Parents of young Central Otago football players were angered on Sunday when one Wanaka Football organiser did not cancel in the "horrendous" weather conditions.
The Central Otago Football Association received complaints through their administrative website from Arrowtown, Queenstown, Alexandra and Wanaka football parents after matches started in the morning and through to 2pm despite the wet conditions.
Wanaka Football organiser and resident Rudi Sanders made the call to run the day's play on Sunday.
An Arrowtown parent of three young players, Fiona Lapsley, said this was irresponsible.
"It had rained all night, it continued to rain in the morning and the forecast was to worsen. We've had injuries and we've had sick children."
Mrs Lapsley said keeping the games on was not in the spirit of children's sport, and if the matches were to be cancelled, there would have been no financial or competition repercussions because the teams would play one another five times each throughout the season.
"His [Mr Sanders'] whole attitude for the sport is he doesn't listen to parents. He needs to take a whole community point of view and not just one person."
She described the playing conditions as "horrendous".
"It was bucketing down on Sunday morning."
The competition hosts children from the age of 4 to 17 and Mrs Lapsley said she did not stop her own children from playing because they had a commitment to the team and it would not have been right to stop them attending on their own behalf.
"As an organiser, he couldn't even apologise to the parents who were outraged."
Mrs Lapsley sent an email to Mr Sanders outlining her concerns.
He replied that he stood by his decision to keep the football running despite the weather conditions.
Yesterday, Mr Sanders said he "absolutely" stood by his decision still.
"It was not cold - it was 15 degrees - it was definitely not cold. There was no wind; there was rain, but there's nothing wrong with playing soccer in the rain."
Mr Sanders said he was unaware of any injuries as a result of playing in the wet conditions and said injuries happen in sport regardless of the weather.
"Kids don't get sick on the soccer field. They can get sick in the supermarket or at school perhaps."
He added it was important for parents to prepare their own children for the wet weather by bringing a change of clothes.
Sport was a way of emphasising to children the need to "hang in there" on a bad day as the sense of achievement when they did was heightened, he said.
"One of the parents rang me and said we should not cover our kids in woollen blankets all the time . . . they need to find their own boundaries."
Mr Sanders has two children in the competition, a daughter in the under-12s and a son in the under-17s.
Cromwell club president David Weir had also emailed Mr Sanders in response to parents' complaints and said the Cromwell under-8 side had enjoyed the day despite the weather, conditions and pitch.
Central Otago Football Association president Rene Kampman confirmed there had been several complaints from concerned parents from all four townships and, had the Queenstown branch had to make the decision, it would have cancelled.
Mr Kampman is also the president of Queenstown Junior Football.
"Having heard the weather and forecast, I would have [cancelled].
"It shouldn't be one man's decision. I would assume a group should make the final decision."
He said all clubs had the opportunity to cancel throughout the day's play and not just at the beginning at 8am when Mr Sanders had confirmed matches would be on.
"Essentially, the decision is with the host. We rely on them to make common-sense decisions for the good of football. Our concern is the safety of the children."
