THE Junee Jaguars will miss out on thousands of dollars after Football Wagga chose to move its soccer semifinals to Wagga’s Rawlings Park.
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In the past five years, Burns Park has been afforded the opportunity to host the semi-finals of the regional soccer competition.
Depending on weather conditions and competition circumstances, the fixtures have netted between $3000 and $4000 for the club.
In what has come as a blow to the Junee club, Football Wagga president Erwin Budde has revealed the move is necessary due to scheduling conflicts.
The move will affect senior first grade and second grade games, with Mr Budde stating junior and senior third grade semi-finals will still take place at Burns Park.
“The main issue is we need an extra field for the Pascoe Plate (games),” he conceded.
Mr Budde said Rawlings Park has been selected for the fixtures due to the availability of extra space and its neutrality.
“Rawlings Park is not a home field for any of the Wagga clubs,” he said.
“This will provide an opportunity for other clubs to run canteens.”
The shock news has disappointed Junee officials, who claim the 11th hour decision to shift the semi-finals to Rawlings Park is not in the best interests of the sport or the welfare of players.
“They’re not taking player safety as seriously as they should, Rawlings Park is substandard,” Junee senior club secretary April Mills said.
“The ground is dangerous; holes are filled with sand and are uneven.”
Jaguars first grade coach Isaac Cooper echoed the thoughts of Ms Mills, describing the move as “unfortunate”.
“Burns Park has hosted the semis in the past, the fields and amenities are some of the best in the competition,” he said.
He said the club’s coaches believe the grounds at Rawlings Park were not safe.
Mr Budde has revealed work has been undertaken in preparation for the 2015 season to improve the drainage at the grounds.
Ms Mills maintains the decision to move the semi-finals could be detrimental to the premiership’s regional competition status.
“It was made quite clear that it was a ‘Wagga competition’ and the finals will be held at Wagga,” Ms Mills said.
“We’re pretty disappointed.
“We would like them (Football Wagga) to be fair to all the clubs in the association, there are just as many outlying clubs as there are in Wagga.”
Mr Budde was quick to reject the view the competition was regarded as a “Wagga competition”.
“Junee is as much a part of the competition as Tumut, Temora, Cootamundra and the five Wagga clubs,” he said.
