Winnipeg plays host to FIFA, but local soccer players have to contend with unsuitable fields

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This article was published 10/06/2015 (4128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As soccer takes centre stage in Winnipeg during the Women’s World Cup, Dana Kuhl says there’s an ugly side of the beautiful game in the city that could use a makeover.

“Our athletes are lacking good quality fields so they can improve on their soccer skills,” said Kuhl, one of the managers of Soccer’s Best in Winnipeg. They train athletes working toward soccer scholarships in the U.S. and have two young women heading south of the border this summer on full-ride scholarships. She lists several fields with holes, long grass or not enough grass to properly play on, including Buhler Recreation Park, Homestead, Little Mountain and Swindon Oaks Park.

And there are more unsuitable playing fields in Winnipeg, said soccer dad Ian Holland.

“They need more attention,” said Holland, a long-time coach and former president of the Charleswood Youth Soccer Association.

He said some fields — especially those maintained by community clubs — are in great shape but others are a problem.

“Something needs to come to light,” he said. The worst he’s seen this season is the pitch at the old Britannia School field at 367 Hampton St.

“One of the girls on the Charleswood U16 team hurt her knee in one of the potholes.” Another girl in the same game was thrown off balance when she stepped in a hole and broke her wrist at the field that is not maintained by the city, said Holland.

He said he didn’t want to slam anyone or come across as negative but all players pay a field usage fee and some fields just aren’t up to snuff.

“The city workers are out there doing their best… It’s money and it’s time. They can’t maintain them at the highest level because of resources.”

In a city with long, brutal winters and short, beautiful summers, paying more to improve kids’ soccer fields would be an investment that benefits society in many ways, said Holland.

“I think anybody would be interested in kids being active in sport as opposed to getting in trouble,” said Holland. “It would prevent injuries and it would create a better playing atmosphere for the kids.”

The City of Winnipeg has more than 600 athletic fields it’s responsible for and is doing its best to maintain them at a cost of about $1.3 million a year, a city spokeswoman said in an email.

The Winnipeg Youth Soccer Association isn’t complaining.

“It’s a tremendous job they’re undertaking in times when human resources are constantly under scrutiny,” said WYSA executive director Carlo Bruneau.

There are well over 100 soccer fields in this city, and many are in school grounds and parks used by many people for all sorts of activities, said Bruneau. People play and drive on them. Geese and animals poop, graze and burrow in them. With a harsh climate, changing weather and wear and tear, it’s costly to keep fields in good shape, he said.

“To maintain them to a particular standard of FIFA quality, that’s a very high expectation and probably impossible to meet,” said Bruneau.

In hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Winnipeg has benefited by receiving three new, artificial fields at the Winnipeg Soccer Complex on Waverley Street, at St. Vital Memorial and Shaughnessy Park. Bruneau said the new and better fields are being shared 50-50 by recreational and competitive soccer players.

“Every one of our 13- to 18-year-olds is going to play on those artificial fields.” Bruneau said he wishes every district had a new artificial turf field. He understands complaints like Kuhl’s and Holland’s, but said it’s a balancing act.

“Do we start charging more to have a few more smoother fields? Is it worth it? I think having more kids playing the game is important.” Bruneau said if a field is unsafe, the game shouldn’t be played. But it’s important to view the state of the soccer pitch with some perspective, he said.

“Look at many parts of the world where kids are playing on gravel lots with socks wrapped in duct tape.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca