Centennial Field is in such disrepair that Jasper’s soccer teams will not be permitted to host games next year, unless it is restored.
The municipality was recently informed by the president of the North Central Soccer Association that the field is unsafe for league play and, in its current state, is only usable for practices.
In response, the municipality met with members of Jasper Minor Sports last week to discuss possible solutions and committed to improving the field for the 2016 season.
“We will fill the holes, we will try and level out the field as much as we can and we may actually shift the sprinklers lower if we can,” said Yvonne McNabb, director of culture and recreation.
“The sprinkler contractor is going to come and see if we can lower them so they’re not a trip hazard, or we may have to remove them and water manually for the next year. Those are two options that we’re looking at at this particular point to try and get that field playable.”
Until recently, Centennial Field was slated for a complete overhaul in 2016, but that date got pushed back when the municipality received a $187,500 federal grant for the project.
The funding is from the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program and cannot be spent until 2017.
With the funds, the municipality plans to redesign, excavate and reconstruct the field to improve its irrigation and drainage, as well as make the surface safe for users.
The field is presently uneven, with large patches of uncovered earth, a significant number of weeds and exposed sprinkler heads.
Traudi Golla, director of soccer for Jasper Minor Sports, described it as a “potato field.”
“We can’t justify having kids playing on it—it’s dangerous,” she said. “The main culprits are the sprinkler heads, but it’s also very uneven, so it’s easy to trip or lose balance.”
Golla said if the municipality is unable to improve the field in time for the 2016 soccer season it will mean the Jasper players and parents will have to travel to all of their games and they won’t have the opportunity to enjoy home field advantage for an entire season.
As well as assessing its own field, the municipality also reached out to the school division to inquire about the school field between the elementary school and high school, only to discover it’s in equally bad shape.
“Both fields right now on a scale of one to 10 are rated ones,” said McNabb. “It’s not great news.”
To ensure the longevity of Centennial Field, McNabb said the municipality will have to consider closing it following heavy rainfalls and snowfalls.
Golla said Jasper Minor Sports would welcome a meeting with the municipality and all of the field users to come up with a schedule of use that would provide the field time to recuperate after games and practices.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
