Shellharbour City Council's Works and Services team is undertaking a time‑critical seasonal operation, preparing local sportsfields for the winter sporting season and supporting thousands of players, families and volunteers across the community.
As summer sport draws to a close, Council crews begin the annual seasonal changeover, transforming cricket grounds into competition‑ready fields for rugby league, AFL, football, netball and dog agility. Collectively, these winter sports use around 50 sportsfields across Shellharbour.
Caption: Hayden Hardwick, a member of Council's Works and Services, team pictured here installing goals at Morely Park, Warilla. Image courtesy of Shellharbour City Council
Works include turfing over four synthetic cricket wickets, installing goalposts at 12 sportsfields, and completing extensive turf preparation such as mowing, soil works and surface recovery.
The seasonal changeover is a significant operational effort, requiring close coordination between works crews and administrative teams, while working alongside local sporting clubs. Field preparation and goalpost installations are carefully sequenced and scheduled, with teams working across multiple sites to ensure all fields are ready within a three‑week window ahead of the winter season start. In addition, Council has completed drainage and irrigation upgrades at a number of sportsfields during the off-season, helping improve field performance, resilience and safety ahead of the winter competition period.
Planning also includes detailed coordination of bookings and field requirements across a wide range of competitions. Winter sport in Shellharbour is supported by more than 20 senior clubs, fielding women's and men's teams across multiple grades, as well as 13 junior clubs catering for children and young people aged from under 6s through to under 18s, including boys, girls and mixed teams.
Shellharbour City Mayor Chris Homer said the seasonal changeover highlights the important partnership between Council, clubs and volunteers.
"Our winter sportsfields are the result of Council staff working closely with club committees and volunteers," Mayor Homer said.
"I want to thank our Council teams for the dedication and effort they put in behind the scenes, as well as the volunteers who help keep local sport running season after season."
"With winter sport running from April through to September, these fields become a focal point for our community each weekend. This work helps ensure players, families and supporters can enjoy safe, well‑prepared grounds right across Shellharbour."
Caption: Council's Works and Services Team are preparing the region's fields for winter sport. Image courtesy of Shellharbour City Council
In addition to routine seasonal works, Council also used the off‑season period to complete several targeted upgrades at sporting facilities. These included an emergency access upgrade at Terry Reserve, lighting upgrades at Keith Hockey Reserve and a roof upgrade at Myimbarr Sportsground, helping improve safety, functionality and amenity ahead of winter competition.
Council carefully plans all works to minimise impacts on clubs and the wider community, with timing influenced by weather conditions to support turf health and field safety throughout the season.
KEY MESSAGES:
• Shellharbour City Council is undertaking its annual seasonal changeover to prepare around 50 sportsfields for winter sport across the LGA.
• The changeover is a coordinated, behind‑the‑scenes effort involving multiple Council teams working closely with more than 30 local sporting clubs.
• Mayor Chris Homer said the works highlight Council's commitment to supporting community sport and ensuring thousands of local players can enjoy safe, well‑maintained fields throughout the winter season.
