WaiBOP Football have called on clubs and social media followers to help combat vandalism to pitches, after a spate of damage caused by cars and dirt bikes.
During the 2024 football season, the federation scheduled games at 141 locations in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, utilising nearly 600 pitches each weekend.
Several pitches in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty were damaged by cars and dirt bikes. Vandals have broken gates and fences to gain access to deliberately destroy playing surfaces, disrupting matches for hundreds of players, many of them juniors.
WaiBOP Football have urged clubs and social media followers to report incidents to police, and have spoken out about the damage in a bid to raise public awareness that these “public” spaces do have legal restrictions on what activity is permitted on them.
Most of the pitches are council-owned and maintained and exist in public spaces that are available for community use.
Activities in these spaces are covered by local bylaws created and enforced by the 16 councils that operate across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions.
In some spaces, no dogs are allowed. In others, golf and horses are not allowed. In all, cars and motorbikes are not permitted without permission.
The vandalism is heartbreaking for the volunteers who work hard to ensure pitches are football-ready. It forces more time spent rescheduling games at alternative locations, time that could be better spent on other projects for our football community.
“Thank you to our football community and clubs who have offered alternative training venues and accommodated venue changes for games, so that our players don’t miss out,” WaiBOP Football said.
“This behaviour is disheartening and undermines the spirit of the game. The costs to fix the damage – which can be high, especially if irrigation systems are damaged – comes back to ratepayers and to our football clubs.
“WaiBOP Football condemns this reckless damage to our football fields and we urge everyone to report any vandalism to the police. If you can safely record video or take photos, these can be provided to the police.”
How to report vandalism
If you see anyone causing damage to pitches, please call the police.
- If it’s happening now, or someone’s in danger, call 111
- If it’s already happened, use the non-emergency number 105
Acknowledgement
We thank WaiBOP Football for providing this story, first published on their website.
This story was first published on October 6, 2024.
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