DEBATE OVER 'SUMMER’ SWITCH HOTS UP
ISUPPOSE it was going to happen sooner or later.
Many of us flagged up, when the Rugby Football League conducted its drive towards ‘Summer’ rugby for the amateur game a decade or more ago, that pitches can be just as hard and dangerous during June and July as at any time during the ‘Winter’ season.
Although perhaps something of a blind eye may have been turned towards the realities in recent years (by clubs, coaches and players as much as anyone else), it seems that the truth is no longer being ignored.
Regardless of how pleasant it may be for spectators to stand basking in the sunshine, pint in hand and taking in the action, it’s not so good for those out on the pitch and chunterings, including at league levels, have become more of a crescendo during the last few days.
The marker, for me, arose when I established earlier this month, and regrettably, after having had to do quite a bit of chasing (although there was nothing sinister in that, I have to stress), that the Impact Performance National Conference League Division Two fixture between Wigan St Judes and Normanton Knights had been called off by the referee, as the pitch was ‘rock hard’.
Quite a few North West Youth games also fell by the wayside I was told (the situation, following the recent long, hot and dry spell seems to be worse in Lancashire than anywhere else) and a snapshot of leagues I conducted last week revealed, as readers will see elsewhere in today’s issue, similar concerns elsewhere.
Talking Grass Roots
with PHIL HODGSON
ANY NEWS ON AMATEUR RUGBY LEAGUE? Contact Phil Hodgson on 07786 980909 or email: philhodgson2@aol.co.uk
It’s nothing new, of course, and not, in all honesty, limited to ‘Summer’ rugby.
We had a hot spell one April, around ten years ago I think, when my club, which operated in the Winterbased CMS Yorkshire League, had a Wednesday evening home fixture.