Is your game on?

WINTER sports are a big
deal with many
Northlanders.
It's confusing and
chaotic enough in most households
on a Saturday morning, without
agitated kids demanding to know if
the wet weather means they are
playing or not.
A few weeks ago, Whangarei's
main sports ground, Kensington
Park, was closed but the weather
had fined up considerably. There
was confusion among the codes as
to who had cancelled what _ with
many thinking the local council
was responsible. Sort of.
Councils open and close
 

grounds in conjunction with sports
codes _ but they close grounds _
they don't cancel individual sports.
Last week, Kensington Park
was open, rugby was on and soccer
was off.
As a rugby dad who had to keep
moving position as the water
welled up around my shoes, I can
 

tell you that the soccer grounds
were a darn sight drier.
How do I know? Because I
stopped to watch a ``friendly'' that
two junior soccer  teams had
organised, given the kids had been
going nuts for a few weeks with no
Saturday sport.
I was impressed by the
relationship that the 11th grade
Marist White Tigers and Kamo
Black teams had, in being able to
organise the game at short notice.
And then get out there and
compete, but also have fun.
It was impressive to watch _
obviously two sides that are led
well from the top, with buy-in from
 

the kids and parents.
If the ground is open and your
code isn't out there, ask some
questions of your coach or
administrators. And as we point
out on page 3 today, to answer
those Saturday morning
questions, go to
www.isthegameon.co.nz.
When it comes to cancelling
sport, there are some exceptions of
course.
Hockey and netball tend to play
on unless the weather is so bad
that visibility is reduced to a few
feet, or you have to swim from
your car to the pitch.
In hockey's case, it comes from
 

having a world-class facility, that
continues to produce world class
players.
Maybe we should be playing
soccer and rugby on astroturf?
 To find out if your game is on,
go to www.isthegameon.co.nz.