Skip to content

Timely rain saves Lucas Height soccer pitches

The long awaited precipitation that came over the long weekend has helped more parties than farmers, foremost among them Ponoka Soccer.

The long awaited precipitation that came over the long weekend has helped more parties than farmers, foremost among them the Ponoka Minor Soccer Association (PMSA).

With the recently installed sod on the new Lucas Heights soccer pitches suffering from severe drought conditions, PMSA President Rob McArthur sent a request early last week to all soccer coaches to switch their games to other fields in town, in particular the games on the west field. PMSA also appealed to town to water the fields where, at one point, the grass was described as having turned into dust.

According to Sandra Smith, communications officer with the Town of Ponoka, the request was complied with and town crews watered the fields first on Wednesday, May 18. With the rain coming on Thursday afternoon, May 19, and watering the fields no longer a necessity, the PMSA leadership are now watching how the situation will evolve after the almost two-day non-stop rain.

Practices and games scheduled for Monday, May 23 at the Lucas Heights fields were cancelled out of concern that action on the too wet fields could damage the grass irreparably.

Smith said the town would continue to keep an eye on the state of the fields and that the grass would be fertilized when conditions allowed.

She added that the town was also planning to have a meeting with the PMSA early in June to hear what kind of further support the association would need from the town administration.

PMSA’s bid to host U18 girls’ and boys’ provincial tournaments in town this summer was successful. The events are expected to bring a big number of visitors to Ponoka.