Youth soccer players in the Central Okanagan are having their games moved to Kelowna city fields after someone took it upon themselves to take a lawnmower to a portion of the field at Dr Knox Middle School last week.
The move by a few 'rogue' parents, did not sit too well with officials at School District 23 who have asked the Central Okanagan Youth Soccer Association (COYSA) to move games away from school fields and onto city fields.
"The city has been great at making fields available they wouldn't normally make available because they are typically adult fields," says SD23 Secretary/Treasurer, Larry Paul.
"They have done a very good job of opening up fields to get more kids on there. We've moved a lot of stuff off our sites as well."
Grass at school fields in the Central Okanagan have not been cut since the teachers returned to the picket line during the last week of August.
Paul says his managers are inspecting fields on a regular basis and will shut down any field deemed unsafe.
"At this point they have indicated they are not pleasant to play on but they are not unsafe yet."
That apparently wasn't good enough for some parents who not only cut a small section at Dr Knox in Glenmore but apparently hired a lawn maintenance company to cut the grass at South Kelowna Elementary.
"They showed up and said please open the gate, we are bringing our machines in to cut. Our principal said no you're not allowed to do that."
Paul says not only is there a contracting out issue there are also issues concerning liability and damage.
"You have a situation where someone has taken it upon themselves to come onto our property and do work. Whether it is voluntary or they are being paid they are doing work," says Paul.
"We may be taking on our WorkSafe BC liability. They may become our employee through a de-facto labour agreement."
He says there is also the issue of damage.
Paul says the grass on school fields is not your standard backyard lawn.
"We don't know what the quality of their lawnmowers and cutters are. We have a certain type of grass so if they (blades) are not sharp they may be tearing the roots out as opposed to cutting the grass.
They may not be cutting it to the right length which could damage the grass as well. And, they have no idea where the irrigation systems are so they could hit a head or something."
School fields, normally cut by CUPE workers, won't be tended to until after pickets come down.