Junior football will not start until next month after a lack of grounds were ready for kick-off.
Junior rugby is scheduled to begin this morning and senior is set to get under way in the afternoon but not enough grounds are marked and ready for junior football games.
''We were given information from the Dunedin City Council that grounds would not be ready for kick-off this week,'' the manager of Football South, Bill Chisholm, told the Otago Daily Times.
Football South made the decision to delay the start until May because of Easter and the school holidays.
''There was a degree of uncertainty between the council and the contractors about what fields would be ready,'' Chisholm said.
''It is not satisfactory but it was a decision we had to make with the information we had at the time. We were not happy about it.''
Chisholm has received positive feedback about the decision from clubs and parents.
''They are happy about having a gap between cricket finishing and football starting,'' Chisholm said.
''A lot of people have appreciated the late start.
''But it is generally accepted that the winter season starts at the beginning of April and it would be good if the grounds were ready to play on.''
Reaction from clubs have been mixed.
A spokesman for the Grants Braes Club could understand the reason for the decision to delay the start until May when the grounds were not ready this weekend.
''It was disappointing because it makes the season shorter,'' the spokesman said.
''But there is nothing we can do about it because the cut-over from summer to winter sports is tight.''
Junior cricket finished last week.
Green Island coach Malcolm Fleming was disappointed at the delay.
''I coach the juniors and they are champing at the bit to get out and have a crack at it,'' Fleming said.
''All the senior grounds are marked. I don't see why they haven't got the junior grounds ready. Kids should be playing football before the start of May.''
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