THE Zlatan Ibrahimovics and Christiano Ronaldos of the colour city shouldn’t fear, all of Orange District Football Association’s (ODFA) washed out rounds will be replayed prior to the finals starting, says ODFA president Tony Mileto.
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That is, of course, if Mother Nature doesn’t spoil the party anymore.
Although other sports have been affected by the torrential downpours recently none have been impacted as consistently as the ODFA’s various competitions, in the All Age A and B Grade league alone five rounds have been washed out and as a result rescheduled.
That includes last weekend’s fixtures, which were called off early on Saturday morning, the lower divisions and junior competitions have also been impacted.
“We always set aside a couple of weekends per season to play any washed out, cancelled or deferred games, we always seem to have one or two each season,” Mileto said.
“This year has been unseasonably wet and we’ve seen several more rounds called off as a result, but we’ve rescheduled all of the games that have been postponed.
“It does mean there will be a few double header weekends played on Saturdays and Sundays, which isn’t ideal but it is necessary and we’re very confident we’ll be able to play all the games before the finals starting.
“In terms of the junior games we’ve had several weekends washed out but we’ve also hosted gala days to try and make up for them which were very well supported.
“We had 72 teams play in the first one and then 88 in the second. In some instances teams were playing three or four games in those gala days and so they actually got more games in than they might have otherwise.”
Mileto said he and his committee is grateful for the understanding shown by the playing fraternity, both junior and senior.
“It’s frustrating for us and for the players but we’re very pleased to see people acknowledging the fact the committee has been pro-active in those circumstances,” he said.
Ryan Sinclair, a midfielder in Waratahs FC’s All Age A and B Grade table-topping side, agreed the washouts have been frustrating and joked he’s “forgotten what a football looks like” but commended the ODFA committee for the way they’ve handled everything.
“At Jack Brabham Park and Waratahs Sportsground the water just hasn’t had time to drain away before the rain comes again,” Sinclair said.
“If all those games were played on one field we’d run the risk of them not being ready for semi-finals, the grounds staff at Waratahs and Orange City Council would have their work cut out for them, that’s for sure.
“I think all the players understand the games being called … we’re just glad we have enough weeks to make those games up.”
Updates on the rescheduled games and revised draws across all ages and divisions can be found on the ODFA website.