Maitland netball's return from the school holiday break has been delayed for at least another week with this weekend's round nine postponed and rescheduled to August 21.
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Maitland Netball Association president Leearna Bennett said the decision to postpone the round was unavoidable as there was no access to Maitland Park.
Bennett said new playing surfaces had come up very well and were suitable for playing on but no one can get into the netball centre.
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"We have about 5000 people who usually attend each playing day, so it's very disappointing but unavoidable," she said.
Maitland City Council will make a call on Friday on what grounds and sporting facilities will be reopened for play on the weekend.
"We're waiting for the water to recede and for roads to reopen and then we will be assessing the condition of each of those facilities," Maitland City Council group manager of culture, community and recreation Judy Jaeger said.
"Of course there are some which have been flood affected and some that haven't. We have received a lot of rain.
"We'll make a call on Friday about which sports field will be opened and which ones will be closed.
Junior football codes and the Maitland netball competition are due to make their return this weekend from the school holiday break, but competitions may be delayed another week as not only the condition of grounds, but access to them has to be considered.
The Newcastle Rugby League and Newcastle and Hunter Rugby League both postponed play altogether last week. The Maitland Pickers returned to training at Maitland Sportsground from Wednesday and will play Kurri Kurri on Saturday.
Jaeger said a number of issues would be considered by council officers before giving the green light for facilities to be reopened.
"There's going to be a few considerations of course, one will be access to make sure roads are safe to drive on and their aren't too many damaged surfaces," she said.
"We are going to also, as we have done with our regional sports ground, check flood lighting, check with Hunter Water on sewerage, make sure we meet all those health requirements.
"The priority has been of course to help people's whose homes have been inundated and reopening and repairing roads."
