	{"id":107023,"date":"2025-05-28T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/?p=107023"},"modified":"2025-05-21T16:12:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T06:12:34","slug":"ground-closures-and-wet-weather-impact-soccer-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/sport\/ground-closures-and-wet-weather-impact-soccer-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Ground closures and wet weather impact soccer competition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PERSISTENT ground closures and ongoing concerns around wet weather could lead to a shortened season in the Football Far North Coast competition.<\/p>\n<p>Football Far North Coast general manager Steve Mackney said there has been a logjam of close to 300 competition fixtures that have been postponed over the past month.<\/p>\n<p>In a major concern, hundreds of players across the competition are yet to get on the field this season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The bizarre weather patterns that have included the effects of Cyclone Alfred back in March, continue to<\/p>\n<p>taunt efforts to get winter sport played with any continuity thus far,&#8221; Mackney said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It seems increasingly likely that a Plan B will again include a modified season and a modified finals series.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are very aware of the importance of providing participation opportunities for our youngest players.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Football Far North Coast is committed to doing everything reasonable to support participation, however the vagaries of weather conditions are beyond our influence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We urge everybody to be patient and know that parity of football activity will return at the earliest opportunity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The MiniRoos competition for players aged 5\u201311 will be the most affected with games not able to be rescheduled in that format.<\/p>\n<p>Clubs are encouraged to support and attend MiniRoos gala days at various grounds around the region to help the kids spend more time on the field.<\/p>\n<p>A number of clubs across the region were impacted by floods in 2022, with four of the past five seasons shortened or impacted in some capacity.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I want to thank everyone for the resilience shown during these exceptionally challenging times,&#8221; Mackney said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our community has demonstrated admirable resilience over several years, despite the impact of many obstacles.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Football stands committed to supporting club volunteers and every stakeholder, who contributes to keeping the game vibrant at the grassroots.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Fixtures and updates can be found online at <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/ffncfixtures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bit.ly\/ffncfixtures<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PERSISTENT ground closures and ongoing concerns around wet weather could lead to a shortened season in the Football Far North Coast competition. Football Far North Coast general manager Steve Mackney said there has been a logjam of close to 300 competition fixtures that have been postponed over the past month. In a major concern, hundreds [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/sport\/ground-closures-and-wet-weather-impact-soccer-competition\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":107024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-107023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ground closures and wet weather impact soccer competition - Ballina Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wet weather and ground closures disrupt Football Far North Coast season, prompting possible schedule changes and community resilience.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballinatimes\/sport\/ground-closures-and-wet-weather-impact-soccer-competition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ground closures and wet weather impact soccer competition - 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