Northern NSW Football have defended the move to shift a men's NPL match between New Lambton and Valentine to Darling Street Oval this weekend while Newcastle Olympic's women's game was postponed.
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Both round-five encounters were set to be played at Alder Park but on Tuesday the New Lambton venue was ruled out of action for this weekend due to rye grass renovations.
The men's NPL clash between New Lambton and Valentine on Saturday has been relocated to Olympic's home ground with reserve grade kicking off at 12.30pm and first grade at 2.30pm.
New Lambton's women team were set to host Olympic on Sunday but all five female fixtures - 13s, 15s, 17s, reserves and first grade - have been rescheduled to June 11, a date reserved in the draw for wet weather catch-ups.
Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) general manager football operations Liam Bentley told the Newcastle Herald the decision was made purely on the number of matches being played - two for the men, five for the women and girls - and venue availability.
"New Lambton had a delay with their rye grass," Bentley said.
"We worked with New Lambton and council to try to find venues to hold the matches.
"Ultimately, it was significantly more difficult to find a venue to host five matches opposed to two and, keeping the workload on volunteers in mind, we thought it was prudent to keep that whole PYL [Premier Youth League] girls and NPL Women's matchday together as one matchday rather than splitting it over two, potentially three, different days."
Bentley said Darling Street Oval was only available from midday on Saturday due to ongoing works being done to facilities at the ground. They have included changeroom refurbishments to cater for the club's female players.
But Olympic, who have been a powerhouse of NNSWF's premier women's competition since entering a team in 2020, have questioned the decision with captain Laura Hall telling the Herald she believed more should have been done to get their game on this weekend.
"We're incredibly frustrated and disappointed that we can't play this weekend," Hall said.
"We're disappointed that they found a venue for the men to be able to play this weekend but they haven't done the same for the women.
"We were notified on Wednesday that our games had been pushed back to the June wet weather weekend, which to my mind doesn't leave much time to great efforts being made to find a venue for us.
"It's definitely adding salt to the wound that the men's fixture has been moved to our home ground. Not only do we not get to play but two men's teams with no affiliation to Darling Street get to use that facility, and it will be the first time that the sheds will be ready since they've been renovated and repurposed so that they're gender neutral and female friendly."
Valentine's home ground at Croudace Bay is undergoing improvements and out of action until at least June.
Newcastle Olympic are hosting five Premier Youth League boys' matches at Darling Street Oval on Sunday.
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