Football club grounds out of use due to vandalism and heavy rain

A joyrider has damaged the grounds at the Otumoetai Football Club. Photo/ Supplied

The actions of a joyrider at a Matua park have meant a local football club will not be able to use some of its grounds for the week.

After a weekend of heavy rain, it appears a person drove a go-kart around soggy Fergusson Park on Monday afternoon, damaging the grounds of the Otumoetai Football Club.

The club's president, Paul Thomas, said the field was closed for two days and a number of trainings had been cancelled while the grounds dried.

Thomas said it was frustrating that someone would "rip up a field for no reason" but the damage was superficial.

"We are the largest club in the Bay of Plenty with 1000 members, so these sorts of actions affect a lot of people," he said.

Four football fields had been driven over and the two that had sustained the most damage would not be back in use until after the weekend.

Thomas had been with the football club for 11 seasons and had never seen the grounds vandalised in this way before. He was notified of the incident about 2pm on Monday.

Tauranga City Council parks manager Mark Smith said thankfully the damage was not too significant and there was little that could be done at this time of year to fix damaged turf.

"We've asked all clubs across the city to cancel any training on their sportsfields for tonight and then review the weekend's activities depending on the weather.

"The clubs are all generally very proactive about looking after the turf through wet weather."

Police were not contacted about the incident.

Otumoetai Football Club training

Due to heavy rain and damage to the park, fields are closed for all training on June 5 and 6. Some pitches may be closed for repairs and coaches and players will be notified.