Summer Soccer, also known as small sided games, has been restricted to mostly synthetic turf fields for the upcoming FootballSSG (Small Sided Games) season.
Northern Beaches Council has confirmed the decision, but denies further claims that it is part of a broader plan for other high impact sports to move to synthetic surfaces because of their impact on natural grass fields.
The claim is being made by Stuart Cole, Manager of FootballSSG, who told Manly Observer, he has been told on at least three occasions that his group is just the first of many more to be restricted to synthetic fields – with other high impact sports on the supposed hit list to be given the boot.
FootballSSG Warriewood, who have played at Rat Park (Pittwater Park) since 2008, will be moved to Narrabeen Sports High’s synthetic fields in a few months when their 2025 spring competition kicks off.
“We will have to turn away at least a third of our players”
“Council have allocated us to Narrabeen Sports High, and their fields and amenities aren’t adequate for several reasons, but the main issue we have is we will have to turn away at least a third of our players, that’s at least 1,000 kids who wanted to play summer soccer this year but won’t be able to because we won’t have enough field space,” Stuart said.
Stuart is calling on the community to help get Council to change their mind and “understand the importance of kids being involved in outdoor team sports” by completing an online survey here.
“The Northern Beaches is a very active community with increasing and competing demands for the use of local sports fields,” a Council spokesperson explained to us.
“Council is trying to work constructively with FootballSSG to facilitate their commercial competition, whilst maintaining the integrity of our turf fields so they can be used by a variety of community sporting groups year-round.”
Council told Manly Observer this decision only affects FootballSSG due the high intensity of small-sided soccer as it causes significant damage to grass sports fields.
But Stuart said he had been informed on three separate occasions by Council staff from Community and Recreation and Environment and Open Space that this isn’t only a Warriewood summer soccer problem. Providing us with the names and dates of meetings, but not the content of those meetings, he said he had been told Council will be coming for other high-intensity sports that are traditionally played on grass fields, like Touch, Oztag, winter soccer and even League and Union.
Council said this is flatly untrue, and that the small-sided games were targeted because they do four times the damage to turf than other codes.
Summer soccer kids to be turned away
Regardless of whether it does impact other sports in future, Stuart said the impact on his sport is significant.
“A lot of parents out there aren’t happy with Council’s decision to move us to synthetic fields that aren’t suitable for our club and blaming us for grass field damage,” he said.
“They’ve been pretty clear it will not only be us. We just are the first. This will happen to every sport they deem high-intensity going forward.”
“The more awareness we can get of what’s happening, the better. Council said that while this is impacting us this year, they’ve been pretty clear it will not only be us. We just are the first. This will happen to every sport they deem high-intensity going forward.”
Stuart added he believes Council is cutting costs and not spending money to maintain public grass sporting fields, which Council steadfastly refuted.
Since the adoption of the Sportsground Strategy in 2017, Council has maintained sports fields and added new lighting, irrigation and drainage improvements. They’ve also installed synthetic fields at Lionel Watts Reserve and Cromer Park.
Let’s start at the beginning
FootballSSG started in 2008 with 760 players playing small-sided summer soccer at Rat Park in Warriewood. Today, comps are held at two locations: Warriewood (three days a week) and Curl Curl (one day a week); with over a total of 3,650 players (almost 1,000 at Curl Curl and 2,700 at Warriewood). While they offer adult comps, 90 per cent of their players are six- to 17-year-olds.
In 2024, FootballSSG were informed they would need to move their Warriewood comps from Rat Park to Narrabeen Sports High during the improvements planned for North Narrabeen Reserve, which includes resurfacing Rat Park. It’s worth noting during Council’s December 2024 meeting, councillors raised concerns about using synthetic fields at North Narrabeen Reserve and asked for Council staff to provide further information on costs and maintenance of synthetic fields.
FootballSSG informed Council that Narrabeen Sports High was unsuitable for their 2024 season – the field size doesn’t allow for the number of games they need to schedule and kids would miss out, constraints to access meant games would have to start later during mid-week afternoons and younger children would miss out, there are no storage facilities, no access to electricity to use during comps, no access to adequate parking and no female safe bathrooms (a change room with four unisex bathrooms would be the only facility available to the club), and the field is due for replacement and areas unsuitable for play will further reduce the number of fields available to FootballSSG. As a result, Council moved FootballSSG to Warriewood Valley sports fields which they played at during their 2024 season.
In April this year, Council informed FootballSSG they would now need to move to Narrabeen Sports High, as Warriewood Valley couldn’t handle the high-intensity sport. According to Council, FootballSSG use of Warriewood Valley grass fields in 2024 was a trial and ended up costing ratepayers $40,000 to remediate the field and prevented cricket players from using the field for eight weeks while the field was rehabilitated.
“I don’t disagree that sports impact fields, but firstly, Council doesn’t have enough artificial fields on the Northern Beaches to accommodate all the high-intensity sporting clubs, so where are all the kids who want to play outdoor team sports going to go?” Stuart asked.
“And secondly, I don’t agree we are the only ones responsible for damaging Warriewood Valley. The fields are used throughout winter by soccer teams, and there is actually a photo on Google Maps street view taken four weeks before our 2024 season started and it shows a field with no grass. Also, we’ve been playing for 18 years and there hasn’t been a problem with our impact on the fields until now.”
Stuart explained he once again raised with Council the issues Narrabeen Sports High presented to the club – the same ones presented in 2024 – but this time, Council didn’t budge.
Council has offered Football SSG four nights a week at Narrabeen Sports High and believe the toilets and amenities are deemed to be suitable and have had no complaints from other hirers.
Stuart has also offered several alternative solutions to Council.
The first is to pay for any maintenance needed to repair and restore the fields to their condition at the start of the season.
Second, to allocate FootballSSG three separate fields in the Warriewood area, each field for one day of play a week, to achieve the balance Council officers say is necessary for field maintenance and minimal damage.
And finally, to co-fund with Council two publicly owned artificial playing fields with FootballSSG being granted access to those fields for 12 per cent of all available time, leaving 88 per cent available for all other sports. Stuart said this would take three to five years due to fundraising and construction.
None of these have been taken up by Council who say it isn’t just about the financial burden but also the time it takes to re-sow and rehabilitate the field after a season.
In its comprehensive response to Manly Observer, a Council provided the following background on the issue:
“When SSG Football first started using Warringah Rugby Park (Rat Park) it consisted of a few hundred members using the park a couple of nights a week. The SSG competition has grown significantly since then with over 2500 players across three nights a week for up to 12 weeks. This is not sustainable and is having a detrimental impact on the condition of the fields, impacting their use by others.
Following SSG Football’s use of Warriewood fields last season, remediation of the fields cost ratepayers over $40,000 and prevented community cricket from using the field for more than 8 weeks while the field was re-sown and rehabilitated. Previous use of Warringah Rugby Park by SSG has resulted in a similarly high level of damage.
The synthetic sportsfield at Narrabeen Sports High is designed for this level of intensity.”
New guidelines over synthetic turf
Just a fortnight ago, the NSW Government released its long-awaited Synthetic Turf Sports Fields in Public Open Space Guideline. The document serves as a practical tool for stakeholders, including local councils, in managing potential environmental and human health risks in the design and management of synthetic turf sports sites.
The guideline has been developed following an independent review by the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer (OCSE) into the design, use and impacts of synthetic turf in public open spaces and has been informed by extensive consultation with local councils, government agencies and peak sporting bodies.
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has also released a Guidelines for Division 5.1 Assessments – Addendum for Synthetic Sports Fields to help councils and government agencies undertake an environmental assessment of synthetic turf sports fields appropriately.
This guideline will come into effect from 25 August 2025 and provides key decision makers such as councils with an understanding of how to apply the recommendations to their work.
Editor’s note: The documents highlights the need for synthetic fields to accommodate increasing population and more consistent field availability but also references the need for improved stormwater measures due to known issues with microplastic pollution, as well as increased heat generation, including the risk of direct burns. It cautions that synthetic turf should be considered as part of a strategic network approach, weighing all options including improved natural turf maintenance before proceeding with synthetic alternatives.
Read the guidelines here
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