Fields Near You

[Tony Dellbird]

Right, i don't know if this is just in my town, but in the post/pre season, do the fields near you take down the nets and posts, On some they leave the posts up and take t he nets off, or in some cases they take them all down?

This really really pisses me off cos in the summer you wanna play football but the only place to play is astroturf or indoor court.

This may be because i live in a Garrison town and the army own the majority of the fields round my way. So does this happen to anyone else or are we the only Unlucky town.

[erictheking]

Yeah they take the posts down round my way as well. Probably so the grass can grow in the penalty area.

[GreenDay]

We have just one decent grass field in a city of 100,000 and of course noone is allowed to practice there - only the two top clubs of the city play there and practice once before a match. All the other grass fields are complete bollocks. We also have a really hard astroturf field where we do most of the practicing.

[erictheking]

All the other grass fields are complete bollocks.

And you're Estonian?

[Case]

Yeah, same happens herre, tho.. most of the pitches ar euni. owned, like my home ground (the best pitch in cambridge, genuinely better than Cambridge United or any other pro- semi-pro team round here) Clare College, which we can't play on until like a month into the season, the groundsman won't let us near it during winter, and the nets come down like late march!!!

The trick is to find a school with a lazy ass janitor, It means breaking in, technically, but they seem to be the only pitches that don't get taken down (or worse, turned in to cricket pitches!).

[GreenDay]

And you're Estonian?
yes.

[Tony Dellbird]

Yeah, same happens herre, tho.. most of the pitches ar euni. owned, like my home ground (the best pitch in cambridge, genuinely better than Cambridge United or any other pro- semi-pro team round here) Clare College, which we can't play on until like a month into the season, the groundsman won't let us near it during winter, and the nets come down like late march!!!

The trick is to find a school with a lazy ass janitor, It means breaking in, technically, but they seem to be the only pitches that don't get taken down (or worse, turned in to cricket pitches!).

The Schools round my way are too lazy to put goals up!

[chicagosoccer]

Right, i don't know if this is just in my town, but in the post/pre season, do the fields near you take down the nets and posts, On some they leave the posts up and take t he nets off, or in some cases they take them all down?

This really really pisses me off cos in the summer you wanna play football but the only place to play is astroturf or indoor court.

This may be because i live in a Garrison town and the army own the majority of the fields round my way. So does this happen to anyone else or are we the only Unlucky town.


Same thing here in Chicago. There is a actually a field right down the street from me and the only one or two teams use them a year during the fall so they actually take the posts out during the winter, and the nets out during the summer. They must think people don't take time to practice, but just play. And to add to that, a semi-pro american football team practices there now 4 days a week and have ruined what was once a decent playing field.

[Perugina]

I always wondered if UK/Euro ameteurs had any decent places to play. When you get, what, five levels down? are there any pitches left for normal folks who want to play for fun? I have at least 3-4 fields in my town to play on all year. They take the nets off for cold weather but at least leave the posts up. Do you have an equivalent of recreation departments? public fields?

Americans may not be as knowledgeable as fans but I think more play in rec leagues than in UK/Europe.

Am I wrong? Just curious

[Tony Dellbird]

I always wondered if UK/Euro ameteurs had any decent places to play. When you get, what, five levels down? are there any pitches left for normal folks who want to play for fun? I have at least 3-4 fields in my town to play on all year. They take the nets off for cold weather but at least leave the posts up. Do you have an equivalent of recreation departments? public fields?

Americans may not be as knowledgeable as fans but I think more play in rec leagues than in UK/Europe.

Am I wrong? Just curious

In my town, We have loads and loads of fields there is 6 fields round my area, all with football pitches on that belong to the army but are opened. We have about 20-25 football fields in Colchester and plenty plenty more in the outer lying villages.

[GreenDay]

Well in Estonia (a former soviet republic) the biggest problem concerning development of soccer is the lack of decent fields. I'm a coach for 91 born boys and we just went to Finland on a tournament and I was amazed how nice facilities they have even in really small towns and villages. We have nothing of the sort but at least things are beginning to develop.

[appleCORR7]

I live in the UK. And in the summer the posts always come down. And we have to make way for cricket. My local fields normally has about 6 pitches marked out for the season. And then has 2 cricket pitches in the summer.

In the winter the nets are never left up. But i tend to take my own over and put that up when i can be bothered. But it is a pain they could leave some goals up. Especially because the grass is so good in the summer!!!

appleCORR

[Case]

In response to trhe question of Perugina, I rekkon grass roots soccer is perhaps as strong in the UK as anywhere. The fact we don't develop as many woprld class talents as say in Brazil comes down alot to socio-cultural factors, for one there many more opportuntities for financial wealth, with a greater degree of success than soccer, so it isn't seen as the only way out as many sports seem to in communities in other parts of the world.
Even at adult level, we have amateur leagues that run both saturdays and sundays (meaning many of us play two consecutive games then 5days off, hardly ideal but hey!), and in my local area theres probably (looks up on sunday league website....) 110 teams in the least competitive level within like a 30mile radius. I've never been to america, but I rekkon that they probably have fewer teams (although with bigger squads to pick from) and leagues are probably spread out over a larger geographical area.
Which is why it's even more ridiculous that all the pitches get packed away for summer! I do get that anything gets ruined by vandals if left, and with the way of the world sum kid would prolly get himself hung from a net and the council sued if the public pitches left their nets up, but still hella annoying.

[Tony Dellbird]

I do get that anything gets ruined by vandals if left, and with the way of the world sum kid would prolly get himself hung from a net and the council sued if the public pitches left their nets up, but still hella annoying.

That happened to some kid down our way when there was a big fight between 2 schools over a field near me.

[Funkfoot]

Here in my neck of the US, the goals stay up, but the nets get put away after the last game of the day. They are pretty much never up outside of game time. Sucks.

[riceburner3508]

I haven't got a decent football pitch within 10 miles of my house. The closest place to go is my school, which is about a 20 minute drive, on good days. In my neighborhood, the idiots who design the recreational park decided to put a goal at the bottom of a hill, facing away from a goddamn forest. Even if any idiot decides to shoot the ball at the goal, if he makes it, hes still going for a wild wooded adventure, cuz there's no net on the goal. If you miss, your screwed even worse.

[servotron]

I am lucky enough to live close to a college that has a BEAUTIFUL field, and for some reason, they leave the pro-style goals and nets up year-round. Unfortunately, I'm in Minnesota so "year round" is from late April to late November because otherwise there's 2 feet of snow on the ground. The field is surrounded by a high fence with open gates, and although the lines aren't always painted on, the grass is good enough to forget about that. Plus, if I were ever to be asked to leave the field (which has never happened) I can say that my father is a professor there (he is) and that I'm enrolling and going to try out for the soccer team. I count myself really lucky to have a field like that I can practice on any time!

[Tony Dellbird]

I am lucky enough to live close to a college that has a BEAUTIFUL field, and for some reason, they leave the pro-style goals and nets up year-round. Unfortunately, I'm in Minnesota so "year round" is from late April to late November because otherwise there's 2 feet of snow on the ground. The field is surrounded by a high fence with open gates, and although the lines aren't always painted on, the grass is good enough to forget about that. Plus, if I were ever to be asked to leave the field (which has never happened) I can say that my father is a professor there (he is) and that I'm enrolling and going to try out for the soccer team. I count myself really lucky to have a field like that I can practice on any time!

Is it like a Stadium? Or just a field?

[servotron]

It's just a field. There are some bleachers on one side, but it's no stadium. The best part about it is that it's fenced in, but it's not locked.

[Irnbru]

they have the goals in boxes in teh corner of the fields near me, as long as you know the lock combination you can use them.