Canberra soccer clubs have welcomed the reactivation of previously unused ovals as the sports community deals with growing demand for grounds and facilities in the capital.
Five new grounds - Lyneham, Weston, Spence, Narrabundah, and Torrens Oval - will undergo community consultation to get back online.
If all are reactivated, it would partially ease the facilities crunch on sports where some clubs are having to reject new players due to the issue.
It would also minimise the potential risk of grounds being overused and degraded.
ACT Sport Minister Yvette Berry made the announcement after months working with different sporting clubs.
Berry said community consultation for the five proposed ovals to reopen would begin shortly, with those chosen due to their geographical demand, existing infrastructure including parking, and size.
The move has received positive feedback around the Canberra sports community.
"This announcement now brings the total of identified drylands ovals for reactivation to seven, which will alleviate existing pressures from ground allocations for all codes," Canberra Olympic said in a club statement.
"In addition it adds vital extra capacity to help facilitate larger carnivals - such as Kanga Cup - and national events for sports such as hockey that have struggled for capacity in recent years.
"Canberra Olympic welcomes this announcement and looks forward to partnering with local sporting agencies, such as ACT Sportsgrounds, in reactivating these fields and progressing the growth of our local sporting codes in the most cost efficient way: the use of existing facilities zoned for that purpose."
Tuggeranong United president Stan Mitchell is aware of the demand for sports fields, and his club has been feeling it more than most lately, with targeted vandalism on their home grounds at Wanniassa, and unsafe turf at Kambah.
However, he also hoped that the ACT government provided adequate staff to ensure the newly activated fields are able to be maintained properly.
"More fields for sport is always good. My only concern is do we have enough resources to manage them?" Mitchell said.
"The sportsgrounds guys who manage it, there's only 16 of them."
On Saturday, NPL club Canberra White Eagles were forced to postpone matches at Boomanulla Oval due to the fields being deemed "unfit for play" by referees.
The club were especially frustrated because it continued a long battle to secure a reliable home ground, having earlier been moved from Woden Enclosed.
Technical director Michael Milutinovic revealed the club had been desperately for two years trying to get Farrer reactivated, so it could become their permanent home, but to date they had been unsuccessful.
"We've tried different avenues to take on an unused ground, and we'll take on the maintenance, just give us the opportunity," he said.
In March last year, Canberra Olympic contacted the ACT government review drylands grounds for their potential to be reactivated.
The government said that droughts of the 1990s and 2000s saw many irrigated ovals converted to drylands to help save water.
They included Belconnen 1, Calwell 4, Charnwood 2, Chifley 1, Chisholm 2, Evatt 1, Evatt 2, Farrer 1, Florey 1, Flynn 1, Gilmore 1, Holder 1, Holt 4, Kaleen 4, Lyneham 1, Lyneham 3, Lyons 1, Macgregor 1, Macquarie 2, McKellar 1, Melba 2, Melba 3, Narrabundah 5, Narrabundah 6, Richardson 1, Spence 1, Theodore 1, Torrens 1, Turner 1, Waramanga 2, and Weston 1.
Then in August, the government acknowledged possibly half of those grounds could be in line for reactivation, and parts of Melba and Holt Oval were eventually back online this year.
The government claimed that if half of the 32 grounds were returned to standard for community sports, 14 more AFL or cricket grounds, or up to 28 more soccer pitches would be made available.
