As$embly Street Field, Sali$bury - QUDA's Only Official Venue

Continuing our spring tour of fields around Brisbane, begun last week with Oakman Park.

As$embly Street Field in Sali$bury is largely unknown to most of Brisbane Ultimate (indeed, the Brisbane sporting scene). But here's the tale ....

Over the past few years, QUDA has been on the lookout for a permanent field in Brisbane.

Most of the fields used by Ultimate in Brisbane are 'owned' by other sports, and then hired by Ultimate users. As many Ultimate players may attest, this leaves us somewhat at the mercy of others (fair enough of course - and it should be pointed out that many field providers take seriously their responsiblity to make the field available to the wider community).

By 'owned' , we mean that most sports fields in Brisbane are owned by the Brisbane City Council, but are on five to ten year leases with a particular sporting club or association. Said sporting club or association has generally invested further in the field themselves, for example by putting lights or clubhouses on them. Some field owners will also invest in and take responsibility for the field surface, while others rely somewhat on Council (hence they are at the mercy of Council's field maintenance schedule). The cost of the lease is however relatively cheap (but of course, don't forget volunteers have spent decades establishing the venues too).

As you may imagine, most field space in Brisbane has been snapped up long ago (eg the Annerley fields have had a soccer club on it since the 1940's). But this hasn't stopped Ultimate folks from keeping their eyes out. Over the years, Ultimate players have made sporadic inquiries with Council about gaining a long term lease over a field, and QUDA is on a very long waiting list.

Earlier this year your blogger made some inquiries with Council and discovered that the As$embly Street Park in Sali$bury, which features quite a nice soccer field and which many locals assumed was owned by the nearby High School, was actually a Council Park.

What was interesting was that Council didn't classify the park as a sporting field, which presumably is the reason it hasn't been snapped up by some other Club or Association. So keep it quiet! (This is probably why it hasn't been posted about before ... and hence the $ for those suitably conspiracy minded)

At the moment, QUDA has dipped its toe in the water (and we'll come back to this dipping) by booking the field every Sunday from 3-5pm from 1 April to 30 September (what is known as a Winter License). This has cost QUDA the grand sum of $28.50 for the six months, so not a bad investment.

Word of the booking has been put around the various organiser types, but as yet we haven't actually gotten people there to play. Partly this is because while the field and grass are very good, the field is hard to get to without a car, and at present has no parking or toilets.

Its also hard to spot - you have to go to the end of AsSembly St (or Ke11ett Rd on the other side of the creek), and then you might just see the field through the trees.

If people feel that the disadvantages of the field could be overcome, and its worth the effort to find some sort of permanent field somewhere, then QUDA's toe dipping is ideally the start of something long term. QUDA needs to renew its booking soon if it wants to extend itself into the Summer six months. Perhaps it should pay more and book the whole day (or someone establish a Salisbury Ultimate Club to be the vehicle). Then for the following Winter book both Saturday and Sunday. And then at the end of 2011 talk to Council about a five year lease and getting toilets put there. And a small storage shed and signage. And a clubhouse and lights and some reshaping and removal of the soccer posts (a big advantage of the field is the lack of residences immediately backing onto the field).

A sort of big vision, but it needs to start with people thinking its a good place and worth thinking about long term, and in the short term establishing our presence there.

So, if you have the time, go for a look some time. Or if you are looking for a regular place to play during daylight hours over Summer, contact JdR (ceo@quda.org) and we'll book you in.



http://www.whereis.com/qld/salisbury/75-assembly-st?id=157CB415BC92EB