Maitland sport has been thrown into disarray with venues across the city either severely damaged or under water following three days of devastating storms in the Hunter Valley.
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Not only are this weekend’s scheduled fixtures in doubt, but future meetings are also in danger of being cancelled or postponed.
The Maitland Showground greyhound track, Maitland Federation Centre, Maitland Netball Courts, Marcellin Park and Smythe Field are among the worst affected.
Assessments on these venues and many others in the Maitland and Hunter region will be made in the coming days.
At this stage, Maitland City Council has issued a blanket closure on all of its grounds until further notice.
This includes home of the Maitland Pickers and Maitland Magpies at Maitland Sportsground and Cooks Square Park respectively.
Today’s greyhound meeting at Maitland Showground has already been abandoned and club sponsorship and promotions manager Fred Robertson remained unsure about next week’s program with damage to the sand-based track and electric boxes.
“We are done and dusted for Thursday and it’s not looking good for next week either,” he said.
“The electric boxes are out of order, all 16 of them, and the sand has been washed away from the track.”
The Anzac Day basketball clash between arch rivals the Maitland Mustangs and Newcastle Hunters may not go ahead as planned at Maitland Federation Centre on Saturday night.
Maitland Basketball Association general manager Amy McGregor said she would make an assessment today on whether the much-anticipated Kibble-Mallon Cup would be contested at home this weekend following water damage to the courts and elsewhere inside the centre.
“We will make a call on Thursday afternoon,” McGregor said.
“The car park flooded, water came through the front door and went into the office and canteen, and the roof leaked, so there is water on the courts.
“We are hoping to get dryers in to help the cause, but we just don’t know how bad it is at the moment.”
Northern NSW Football officials will also be making assessments tomorrow after being shut out of their new headquarters at Speers Point because of damage caused by the storm.
The Magpies and Weston Bears are due to play on Sunday.
Newcastle District Hockey Association will have slightly more grace in making decisions for Sunday’s Hunter Coast Premier Hockey League encounters, which includes the Maitland Rams, with play conducted on water-based synthetic fields.
Newcastle and Hunter Rugby Union have called off third round games, which included a return clash for Maitland against Singleton at Rugby Park on Friday.
Newcastle Rugby League, including the Pickers and Kurri Kurri Bulldogs, were not playing this weekend with competition byes for Anzac Day centenary commemorations.
Maitland Netball Association have yet to start this season with round one down for May 3.
Thursday’s meeting at Newcastle International Paceway was set to go ahead when the Maitland Mercury went to press on Wednesday night despite damage to track fences.
Newcastle Harness Racing Club administrator Wayne Smith said a final assessment would be made on Thursday morning with the first race scheduled for 3.10pm.
“We are pushing on at this stage,” Smith said.
“The ground staff has been working on the track today [Wednesday] and while there has definitely been damage sustained to the outer fences, mainly signs, further damage has been minimal.”
There is also a card programmed for Newcastle on Saturday night.
