Re: Looking for field for 1 Nov 3pm
With the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) shutting down 20 football pitches each month in November and December for its annual scheduled maintenance, it has left the amateur football scene with a severe shortage of fields. A mad scramble for pitches by league and match organizers has developed which may result in an increase in the prices of private pitches, likely to be passed on to the teams playing on such pitches.
While some organizers are pressing the panic button, others have prepared for this beforehand. ESPZEN is one of the few amateur leagues that will not be affected by this problem at all, mainly due to their pitch acquisition strategy. Private pitches aside, most of ESPZEN's bookings with the SSC are the artificial turf pitches which do not require shutting down for maintenance. You may wonder why the league is given "priority" in booking these turf pitches, but on closer inspection, the bookings are limited to "off-peak" timings (11am and 1pm) where the public seldom books.
If you were wondering why the pitch maintenance could not be scheduled in a more balanced fashion throughout the year, it is because most of the SSC pitches are actually fields owned by the schools and can only be shut down during the year end school holidays.
The SSC should be lauded for its efforts in increasing the number of football pitches in land-scarce Singapore by cleverly tying up with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to open up school fields for public booking, but perhaps school fields should not be the only source of football pitches.
Wide and flat open fields can be found scattered all over Singapore and one cannot help but wonder why these fields cannot be converted into football pitches. Yes, the relevant authorities may already have development plans for these open spaces, but seldom in the immediate future. For fields without plans for the next few years, SSC can very possibly convert them into football pitches for the public.
One individual famous for converting open fields into private pitches today is Mr. Peter Koh, organizer of many past infamous leagues in the social football scene. He is the owner of the Bukit Timah, Jln Tembusu and Fernvale pitches, and rents them out at prices way higher than the SSC pitches. The pitches' condition never justifies the price but it is in times like this where teams will have no choice but to rent it.
For all our complains, the supply and quality of football pitches available to the public today is already miles better compared to years ago, when the number of SSC pitches can be counted with our fingers. As a fervant supporter of the Singapore amateur football scene, I can only hope that the SSC will not rest on its laurels and keep up the good work by seeking more avenues to develop football pitches for public rental so as to satisfy the thirst for football round the year by a country just crazy about the beautiful game.
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