Every year, Suburban FC starts the outdoor season knowing that the grass fields rented from HRM will not be ready to play on as for playing standards
This isn’t speculation, it’s the same situation we’ve documented and escalated for years.
Here’s the cycle:
- HRM does not begin field maintenance until the second week of May, with sport fields generally targeted for June 1.
- Our paid field rental contracts begin June 1 (ex: we paid $5,668 for one Sackville block alone in 2025).
- Fields are routinely not ready by June 1st (long grass, no lines, potholes, rocks, weeds, mud, safety risks, etc.)
- We have offered, multiple times, to fund maintenance ourselves or provide our own equipment and staff – at the time, we were rejected as there were contracts with third-parties
- Our members and your families pay for programs, show up, and find conditions that aren’t safe, let alone playable for soccer.
- Members complain. Some quit. Some request refunds. In 2023, we lost hundreds of U3-U8 players participation across one summer with the primary reason being due to field conditions.
- We meet with HRM, we’re told they’re working on it..the next year, we’re back at square one. Some good people come to the table and it always sounds positive, but nothing changes – for their reason on bigger political/HRM policy constraints
This document (below) provides a deep-dive into the grass-field situation in our region. Within this document, there are email, letter & social media templates, instructions on who and how to contact HRM, key data, insights & more.