Grounds Allocations

Tuesday, 12 April 2011 21:18

Hi All,

Thank you all for you input regarding fields, below is the email which I sent yesterday to Council, Te Puru and AFF. Please be aware that we are all doing our best for the club and it is not a problem refined to BMAFC, there has been a massive increase in playing numbers throughout Auckland which is causing problems with fields, you will find that some clubs have Goals that are to big and some are to small, some fields are too skinny some are too short, the guidelines are just that: guidelines.

Council are struggling to find enough playing fields along with training areas, hence why some fields are marked 50x30. While not ideal some times you may just have to get on with it, we all have to play on fields sometimes that we think are not suitable, including the 1st Team!

In regards to opposition saying they will not play on a particular field they have been allocated, are they then saying the will forfeit the match? If they refuse to play then this is the case, let them complain to council or to BMAFC.

Guys, I am here to assist you all and if you have problems on Game day please ph me on 021 353 962, please be assured we are all on the same page and want things to be spot on so our kids reap the benefits.

If you find this week that your field is not up to standard please by all means send me a constructive email this is easy to deal with and forward on, also if you have a problem with the field do not take it out on Te Puru Staff as they are only doing what AFF have set them out to do. Please do not change fields unless you have spoken to me or Nikki Ferigo. We had allowed 1 game to be played across the # 1 last Saturday as we are trying to limit the use across this field as much as possible due to the amount of money which was put in to by the way of extra grass seed and sand - it needs growth so we can reap the benefits later in the season.

As I said, keep it constructive and I will do everything I can to solve your issues, I have established a very good relationship with both Council and AFF and barking demands at them will only alienate BMAFC requests.

I will keep you posted on the outcome.

Kind regards,

Brian Preston
Club President & 1st Team Assistant Player Coach
Beachlands Maraetai AFC

Letter to Te Puru and Auckland Council, from BMAFC

Over the last 2 weekends we have a few complaints regarding our pitch and goal sizes not only from our teams, visiting teams also, some of them have been valid and some are just people moaning for the sake of it, as you all know it is impossible to satisfy everyone!

Can I please request the following, up to you all on if and how it can be done;

Nikki & Scott have had discussions about marking TP 6, a new junior pitch 60x40, this is fantastic news! I look forward to seeing it done, thanks for your help on this Scott
Martin can we have all our 7th & 8th Grade teams playing on TP3, TP4 & TP5 when they are playing @ Home? This is because the fields are 50x30 and are best suited to this age group, Beachlands Domain #2 is a larger pitch with much bigger goals which is to hard for the little ones to defend.
Martin Can we have our 9th -11th Grade games Scheduled & Beachlands Domain #2 or the new TP6 as the 10th & 11th grade Goalies were just about kicking the length of the pitch on the smaller 50x30
Scott on TP3,4 & 5 can we have the Goal box marked a little bigger to replicate an 18yd box so to speak, can I suggest 9x7
Scott on TP6 & Beachlands Domain #2 can we have a goal box marked 12x9 to again replicate an 18yd goal box as the size box they have marked is way to small, it is more like a 6yd box, I did speak to the guy from Downers a few weeks ago when he was setting them out and he said he would sort it no problem...

I feel like you all probably do with this email, frustrated as no one ever seems to be happy, but if we could look at this and see what we can do because as Club President I cop a fair brunt of grief and I am more than happy to tell some of them to stop moaning and get on with, but some points are valid and make sense.

I thank you all for understanding and will take any help I can get on these matters; I appreciate all the work you all put in!

Kind regards,

Brian Preston
Club President & 1st Team Assistant Player Coach
Beachlands Maraetai AFC