Memo from the City of Guelph

Subject: Delayed Opening of All City Sports Fields

Due to the recent wet weather over our region, sports fields have been inspected and are not suitable for use, and thus, we are delaying the opening of all sports fields. All fields will remain closed until at least Tuesday May 3rd; at which time the situation will be reassessed and decision notice posted on our website by 2pm on Tuesday, May 3.

This also applies to those fields for which an early opening ie April 30th or May 1st had been granted.

Please remember to refer to the Sports Field status page on the City of Guelph website for the most current update. The Sports Field status page can be accessed at http://www.guelph.ca/living.cfm?itemid=77425&smocid=1627.

Throughout the season, we will be continuing with the practise of closing sports fields when they are deemed unsuitable for use, saturated or during especially wet weather conditions.

  • Staff will make the decision by 2:00pm if fields are to be closed for the duration of the day and evening.
  • Notification of field closures will be posted on the City’s website at Guelph.ca. Look for the “Sportsfield Status” webpage under “Seasonal Information” or use link noted above.
  • The onus is on the user groups to monitor weather conditions and refer to the Sportsfield Status webpage.
  • During off hours, ie weekends, permitted groups are encouraged to exercise due diligence in the event of saturated field conditions, as damaged fields will result in extended closures.

The goal is that this practise will result in higher quality fields and fewer long term closures.

We greatly appreciate your cooperation and assistance in protecting our sports fields.

Thank you,
Kelley

Happy New Year

I hope everyone was able to enjoy the Christmas season.

My apologies for the lack of recent postings, but you may have noticed we weren’t playing any ball. Obviously some of you are feeling the urge, judging by the recent interest in our Free Agent listings.

There will be some changes made to the layout of the site over the next few weeks, but the content that you would expect to see in the off season will still be available. This includes the link to said Free Agents pages – one for each league.

If your interest is in playing Coed slopitch, then you should visit the link for the GTCSPL Free Agents.

If your interest is in playing Men’s slopitch, then you should visit the link for the RCMSPL Free Agents.

Anyone interested in submitting an entire team to either of the leagues should get in contact with the league Presidents:

Rosters & Vacations

We are currently going through prime summer vacation time, and sometimes that doesn’t work very well with prime slopitch time – as evidenced by the number of Forfeits that have been happening lately! We have had a few instances this year where questions have been raised about another team’s roster (which makes it just about the same as every other year).

I know I don’t need to remind everyone of the importance of completing your games as scheduled because of the GG4 lighting situation, but I do want to remind everyone that all players must be listed on your roster before taking the field for your team. Teams have 20-man rosters to account for those games when your “regulars” can’t make a game for whatever reason – and you might have to dig deep in that roster when it comes to this time of year. Please resist the urge to pick up just anyone to fill in for a night as non-roster players will not be covered by insurance should something happen.

In the event someone chooses to protest a game because of non-rostered players, you should be aware that a successful protest will result in the forfeiture of the game by the offending team.