Machinery and maintenance crews will be the only things occupying the soccer fields at Holcom Park for the next several weeks.

Lawrence High’s boys soccer team, which normally holds practice there, instead is practicing on the fields south of the Lawrence Virtual School, 2145 La.

“That’s where (the soccer team) will be practicing until the (Holcom Park) fields are suitable and safe to play on again,” said Rick Gammill, Director of Safety and Operations for the Lawrence school district.

“The fields are in pretty bad shape. It looks like they’ve been played on over and over again.”

And they have.

Gammill said the fields incurred significant damage Sunday when a group of about 60 members of the Lawrence Ultimate Frisbee Summer League held an end-of-the-year tournament there.

“(The damage) occurred the day after we had a huge deluge of rain, and it was just a bad decision on the group’s part to play when the fields were that wet and that muddy,” Gammill said.

The district will spend nearly $5,000 in repairs.

• 6News video: Rain, frisbee team wreck soccer fields (08-18-05)

Work began Thursday.

Julian Ryba-White, a member of the league who was there when the damage occurred, said the situation was a misunderstanding.

“I think if someone had told us we couldn’t use the fields, we wouldn’t have,” he said. “I don’t think we were being bull-headed or stubborn or malicious in any way.”

Gammill said the league had a contract with the school district to use the fields, but that the agreement expired on August 9. The damage occurred August 14.

“We have scheduled a meeting with the group for next week, and we will seek reimbursement for the damages to the field,” he said.

LHS will resume practice at Holcom Park when repairs are complete.