Cape Breton soccer field damaged over weekend

Cape Breton's Glace Bay Soccer Association was left an unwelcome surprise over the weekend.

The association discovered athree-by-12 metre patchin the field mowed down to the topsoil, leading to sun damage.

With the season about to start, there is not much that can be done to fix the patch near the middle of the field.

Adam White, vice-president of the association,said they areconcerned about letting their teams play on the field.

"If they use this field for practice, they're most likely going to twist their ankles and a lot of slide tackling happens so they can't do that because they'll burn themselves," said White.

The association doesn't know who caused the damage, but they believe someone was trying to turn part of the field into a cricket pitch.

The fieldis located in the Caledonia neighbourhood of Glace Bay and is designated to be used only for soccer and as a walking track.

White said people have also misused the field in the past by driving ATVs through it, hitting golf balls and using it as a dog park.

"Our players are practising and they're sliding on [golf] balls and sliding through dog feces. It's not really conducive to soccer," said White.

Cheryl MacMullin, president of the association, said it's a regular occurrence during the seasons to see the field misused.

"Instead of doing practice with my team like I'm supposed to be doing, I'm walking around cleaning up other things so they don't get hurt," said MacMullin.

A few hundred kids use this field every year in almost every age group.

MacMullin said they just want people to be respectful.

"If it's empty, by all means, go right ahead. But let's not leave the field in disarray where it can't be used," said MacMullin.

The association said if the problems persists, they may have to put locks on the gates.