Most city sports fields open Friday despite recent snowfall

Recent weather has meant some Edmonton sports fields, while now open, can't be painted, leaving them unplayable, according to the minor soccer association.

Most city-run sports fields across Edmonton opened on Friday despite snow that fell recently.

Mark Beare, the City of Edmonton’s director of parks and urban forestry, said snow and frost over the last two weeks delayed work by crews to mow, trim and maintain some fields, and prevented them from grooming shale on ball diamonds and painting lines on various pitches.

“The majority of the 1,500-field inventory is up and running,” Beare told CTV News Edmonton on Friday, adding users can check online for notice of field closures.

He said the city’s field booking system has been open since March.

“Teams can look at the available inventory that suits them based on where they are practicing and get those practice schedules booked,” Beare said.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall