Outdoor sporting amenities

The City of London has access to over 100 rectangular sports fields that accommodate a range of field sports, including soccer and football. This supply is comprised of both City-owned fields as well as permitted fields at Fanshawe College and the University of Western Ontario. The City’s rectangular sports field supply is classified into four sizes – micro, mini, mid, and full size and either neighbourhood or premier fields. Premier fields are either irrigated, artificial turf or have lights.

Below is a listing of the sports fields currently available.

The City of London currently permits over 65 baseball diamonds. London’s baseball diamonds come in a range of sizes with adjustable baselines to suit the needs of the group using it. The City’s baseball diamonds are classified as either neighbourhood or premier diamonds. Premier diamonds are either irrigated, clay infield or have lights.

Below is a listing of the diamonds that are currently available.

The City of London has cricket pitches at North London Athletic Field, Northridge Fields and Silverwood Park. Northridge Fields will be the largest of the 3 pitches and will includes a scoreboard.  All 3 pitches are a concrete base with artificial turf over top. This surface is great for hard ball or soft ball cricket. For availability of the cricket pitch, please contact Mike Vandertuin by calling 519-661-2489, extension 5197 or emailing mvandert@london.ca.

As a legacy to the 2018 Ontario Summer Games, the City of London in partnership with the Ontario Volleyball Association have built 10 beach volleyball courts at the North London Athletic Fields. These additional courts compliment the 4 courts already at North London Athletic Fields. The Ontario Volleyball Association operates an adult program during the week and hosts weekend youth tournaments. For availability of the volleyball courts, please contact Mike Vandertuin by calling 519-661-2489, extension 5197 or emailing mvandert@london.ca.

In the interest of maintaining high quality playing fields and in an effort to prevent injury, the City of London will enforce the following guideline and procedures when soccer fields and baseball diamonds become saturated.

Guideline

The City of London recognizes the preservation and maintenance of its sports fields to the highest industry standards benefits user groups and preserves important City assets. In order to preserve these fields and to promote their use, the City is committed to protecting the fields against non-permitted or unauthorized use. The City will not allow play on fields or diamonds when there is visual ponding of water on the surface of the field/diamond and the field is saturated.

*The definition of a saturated field is one where the soil cannot absorb any additional moisture and water runs off the surface or pools on the field. The easiest method to determine if a field is saturated is to walk on the playing surface. If the water is pushed around the foot then the field is saturated.

Procedures

The Supervisor of Allocations and Sport Services will ensure that all soccer and baseball groups receive the Wet Field Guideline. In the event of a potential closure the Supervisor of Allocations and Sport Services will:

1. Contact the Manager of Parks Designate immediately when conditions warrant the closing of sports fields/diamonds due to excessive rainfall.
2. Once a field or diamond has been deemed unplayable, the Manager of Parks Designate will contact the permit section of the Recreation Department who will inform the Permit holder by e-mail.

If the closure happens prior to 3:00 p.m.

The Recreation Department will contact the permit holders to advise them of the closure. After 3:00 p.m. the User groups are asked to follow the Wet Field Guideline

If a user group arrives at a field/diamond where there is evidence of surface water or the field/diamond is saturated as per the above definition, the user group will be asked not to play on the field/diamond by League Administrators, Game Officials and/or City staff.

In situations where City staff and/or Officials are not present, the League will ensure the Wet Field Policy is adhered to.

Several factors should be considered, including the safety of the participants, the possibility of liability through accident or injury, and the unnecessary expense of field/diamond repairs and maintenance.

If a group ignores the “UNPLAYABLE” conditions, the following consequences may occur:

i) The permit holder will be required to pay for all damages to the field/diamond arising from abuse to the facility where the permitted group is proven responsible.

ii) The permit holder will be held liable and responsible for accidents or injuries incurred because of unsafe conditions.

iii) The permit holder will have their permit suspended or revoked for any future use of a field/diamond controlled by the City of London.

Once the City of London has closed a field or diamond we will remove that booking from your seasonal contract and place a credit on the user group’s account.

If the permit holders have not utilized a field/diamond due to unplayable conditions, they must call Facility Booking by noon the following day. Where the game was scheduled for the weekend, the Permit holder must notify Facility Booking staff by noon the following Monday.