⚽️ Letter: Poor Maintenance and Uneven Surfaces at Fisher Fields
Letter To the Editor
I’m writing about the state of the soccer fields at Fisher Fields. There are two main issues. First, basic maintenance needs to be improved. For some reason the parks department has chosen to only cut the grass along the basic lines on the pitch and not the main field itself. This results in shaggy grass slowing the ball and impeding proper play. We all want to develop our kids to the best of their abilities, and this is not helping. We would NEVER do this to hockey kids. It would be like flooding only a ring around the boards instead of the whole ice surface. The difference in quality we provide to the two sports is glaringly obvious. Our tax dollars need to be applied more evenly in this respect. And please don’t say we can’t water the grass so we don’t want to scalp it. Ok that’s fair, but cut it at least once or twice a season, or better yet get some irrigation going! Other municipalities manage to have beautiful pitches, why can’t Collingwood.
Which brings me to my second point. Why can’t we have level playing surfaces, and I mean literally level. Our house league fields are a complete farce of uphill and downhill playing. Soccer is meant to be played on a flat field, our fields are nothing like that. It’s the most important developmental age, give the kids a decent surface to play on! How much could it possibly cost to grade and reseed our fields? The big ones adults play on are fine but the other ones for our kids are abysmal. Please invest in our soccer kids!
Angus Crawford
Correspondence with Parks:
My 1st Email
Hi,
Can you tell me who makes the decision to only cut the lines on the Fisher Fields soccer pitches? I’d like to contact them and find out why we do this. It would be like only flooding a circuit around the boards on a hockey rink … we don’t do that, why do we provide a less than ideal competitive set up for soccer kids?
Thanks.
Their Reply
Dear Angus Crawford
Thank you for your inquiry regarding the field lines at Fisher Fields.
After reviewing the matter with our Parks Manager, a decision was made to mow the painted field lines separately from the rest of the field. During periods of active grass growth, staff are unable to maintain both the field markings and the overall turf at an appropriate playable height if the entire field is mowed at the same time. This approach allows us to keep the field lines visible while ensuring the playing surface remains safe and well-maintained.
We appreciate your understanding and welcome any further questions you may have.
Kind regards,
Ingrid
Service Collingwood
My Response
Well thanks for this reply but exactly why is it that “staff are unable to maintain both the field markings and the overall turf at an appropriate playable height if the entire field is mowed at the same time”. The recommended grass height for a recreational soccer pitch is 1.5 to 2.5 inches (38 mm to 64 mm) providing a balance for multi-use durability and fair ball roll across both the line markings and the playing surface.
Why does our maintenance team not follow these standard recommendations? Our smallest fields are at least 4′ – 5′ high. I literally just went there and measured them. There is a day-long tournament taking place August the 8th. Can the fields be cut in preparation for that event? It will grow even longer if not cut in the next two weeks!
Perhaps the Town is trying to save money by only cutting the lines and therefore providing an inferior playing surface to soccer players. Again, the hockey leagues / teams would never tolerate only strips of the rink being flooded. There appears to be an inequitable investment into maintenance of these two sports.
The state of our playing fields are embarrassing compared to other local municipalities. Why are their staff able to maintain both the field markings and the overall turf at an appropriate playable height when the entire field is mowed at the same time but we can’t? I was recently at Gostick Park in Bracebridge and they had immaculate fields. Cut to the correct height, lines cut to the same length as the playing surface. Nice and flat as well! Clearly our Council doesn’t prioritize our natural sports fields as much as other communities.
The idea of cutting our grass at four or five inches makes sense in just a general open field space but when grass is intended for a specific purpose like a playing field, the grass needs to be cut to the appropriate length 1.5 to 2.5 inches. Last point, the larger fields at Fisher seem to be cut shorter and more regularly, are we prioritizing adults over kids?
I hope the fields can be cut to proper even length in time for the August 8th event.
Thanks.
Angus Crawford
