Montgomery County Parks delays opening of grass athletic fields due to wet conditions

Montgomery Parks says it will delay the opening of grass athletic fields due to wet conditions from weeks of snow cover as well as last week’s heavy rains.

The agency tells News4 all permits to use the fields have been canceled until at least April 1.

A lingering pile of slowly melting snow from a storm six weeks ago sits just outside the fence surrounding a grass athletic field at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The gate is padlocked, and a sign says the field is not in use.

“They’re pretty much soaked through, like a sponge,” said Darren Flusche, deputy director of Montgomery County Parks

Many Montgomery County public schools, like Montgomery Blair, make use of grass athletic fields that fall under county parks.

“One really heated game in the wrong conditions can cause ruts and divots, and then those ruts and divots deteriorate, get worse over time and create wet spots,” Flusche said. “[…] Unfortunately for folks who permitted those fields to practice now up through April 1, we’re cancelling those permits, regrettably, and we’re asking people not to walk on to our fields to play either.”

April 1 is well into the start of spring sports like baseball and softball. A spokesperson for Montgomery County Public Schools told News4, “This will be very impactful for our student athletes.”

“I think we’re all a bit sad that we’re not gonna be able to start as planned, said Gus Delgado, executive director of the youth soccer non-profit, Montgomery Soccer Incorporated (MSI).

Founded in 1971, the organization gets thousands of kids onto the soccer field every year. With the Montgomery Parks grass fields now temporarily closed, MSI is scrambling to find other space, including indoor fields.

“Right now the plan is to shift as many games as possible to our partnership fields and some of our games to the Maryland SoccerPlex, which, as you can imagine, is already packed as is,” Delgado said.

Montgomery Parks has a full list of affected fields on their website.