Wet weather causes several field closures
Wet weather is wreaking havoc with sports fields in Penticton.
The City of Penticton closed the soccer fields at King’s Park on Monday, while the Penticton Slo-Pitch League voluntarily closed Lion’s Community Park and other local venues it uses regularly.
City of Penticton parks supervisor Todd White said the soccer and ball fields will be assessed again today with the hope of re-opening them to be utilized as early as tonight, but conceivably later in the week.
In sports vernacular, the fields are “day-to-day” at this point.
“My expectation, if the weather holds, that will we will be on the fields (Tuesday),” said White. “We want the parks to be used but they need to be protected to offer a more favourable surface for the entire season.
“What (the fields) really need is some wind, a little bit of sun, no rain and a chance to dry out.”
While there is a 40 per cent chance of showers today, the skies are expected to clear in the afternoon, with a high of 11 C.
On the flipside, the mercury is expected to dip below zero at minus-2 C overnight.
“The frost can be a factor, too,” said White. “If there is any traffic it can break the grass blade from the roof crown.”
White said conditions are expected to be more favourable as the week progresses,
GOLF
Sandy McDowell logged a 71 to top the Summerland Golf and Country Club senior men’s season-opening “all net scores” outing.
Bob Fortune came second in the first flight at 72 and Don Michiel was third by countback at 74.
In the second flight, Doug Marchesi edged out Bob Tamblyn by countback after both carded a 72, with Jeff Clarke third, also by countback, at 74. with daytime highs reaching around 15 C and overnight lows — other than the one night — staying above freezing.
White said the wear on the fields with such wet conditions precludes the opportunity for the grass to grow.
“Any new seed we’ve put down, there is no germination there,” White explained. “Basically what we have is an oversaturation of the soil profile.”
King’s Park was first closed from April 6-9, forcing cancellation of the Penticton youth soccer Icebreaker tournament. The tournament was instead played this past weekend.
But another deluge of rain Sunday night and into Monday forced the City to advise the soccer groups not to use the fields Monday night. The inclement weather on Monday also included a brief late-afternoon hail storm.
“We usually open the fields on April 1 and with normal conditions we can provide a great, durable surface,” said White. “This spring, however, has been a real challenge. When you add the wear and tear on top of the saturated fields, you get bare spots and that hampers the fields and leads to players getting injured.”
White praised the cooperation by the user groups where the fields are concerned.
“They’ve been advising us when they think there are potential risks with using the fields,” said White. “It’s great to have that support and it’s vital for us in terms of providing a quality product.” Jim Haddrell and George Carswell shared the deuce pot.
YOUTH SOCCER
The Penticton Smile Enhancement Studio Yellow Jackets split a pair of games to open the season in under-13 girls’ recreation soccer league play.
Alex Koturbach and Marisa Leboe scored the goals for the Yellow Jackets.
The girls took time to pay respects to the Humboldt Broncos Junior-A hockey team bus crash victims and plan to wear Broncos shirts at every practice throughout the season.