The Yeti Rugby Club tackled an unexpected curve ball with a location change for its 27th Annual Snow 7s tournament. 

More than 60 players took part in this year's all-ages tourney, held on Feb. 18, that saw players slipping, sliding and scoring tries. 

"Even vehicles passing by honked their horns in support of the fun! It was a fantastic day bringing the Okanagan rugby community together," reads a club media release.

The car-horn-accompanied winter rugby action took place in Grindrod, as the Yeti's usual Snow 7s tourney stomping grounds was off limits due to restrictions on winter field use.

香蕉视频直播淲e were surprised to be locked out of our go-to Snow 7s venue at Little Mountain after 20+ years,香蕉视频直播� said the Yeti's Michelle Hoekstra. 香蕉视频直播淟ast year, we were told it wasn香蕉视频直播檛 available due to the 55+ Games maintenance, so we turned to the Elk香蕉视频直播檚 Club, which happily offered to host us for a second year. But when we announced the tournament, we were suddenly asked by the Recreation Society to find a new location, despite maintaining the fields with no issues.香蕉视频直播�

Salmon Arm roads and parks manager Darin Gerow said it's the city's responsibility to protect turf grass to ensure the best and safest playing quality throughout the playing season for all our users, adding the season typically consists of mid-to-late April until end of October (subject to weather).

"When this plant is not actively growing, it will put itself into dormancy, typically by the end of October until mid to late April in our climate," Gerow explained in an email. "During this dormancy stage, it is not dead but slows its metabolic process to conserve energy into a survival state."

In dormancy, as grass is not actively growing it cannot repair itself and "any play or traffic during dormancy can crush the grass blades and compact soil, killing the plant."

"Saying all of this, play on turf grass too early before the grass actively starts growing could catastrophically damage the playing surface and potentially requiring full re-build, re-seed or re-sod of the field costing significant amounts and closing the field for an extended period of time, possibly the entire season," said Gerow, adding in addition to the quality of play and the potential loss of fields for all other users, dormant grass offers less cushioning compared to healthy actively growing grass, increasing the risk of slips, trip and falls which could lead to injuries.

With limited options in Salmon Arm, Yeti Rugby looked outside the community. Hoekstra said the the Grindrod Community Hall stepped up, "welcoming the tournament with open arms into their beautiful facility and spacious fields."

"The event was temporarily postponed to allow for better snow conditions, and just in time, fresh snow arrived for game day!"