YARRA Valley Mountain District Football League took the unusual step of cancelling a game on Saturday due to flooding.
YVMDFL chief executive Stephen Walter met officials from Yarra Glen and Belgrave on Friday when flood modelling from Melbourne Water indicated that the water level in the Yarra Glen area was expected to peak on Saturday afternoon.
After the meeting and discussions about possibly moving games, the league and the two division 2 clubs decided to cancel all football and netball games between the two clubs, with all games declared a draw and the points split.
Walter said it was the first time in his five years in charge that the league was forced to cancel a game.
"At the end of the day it was a no brainer that the ground would be flooded," he said. "You might have been able to drive into the ground but you wouldn't have been able to drive out.
"There are swollen rivers nearby and pools of water so cancellation was as much a safety issue for kids and spectators as for the players."
Walter said the YVMDFL had no spare grounds and was unable to find a way at short notice to move the matches.
"By Sunday afternoon the centre square at Yarra Glen was under water and the water went right to the change rooms," he said.
"There is also a construction area where they are upgrading their clubrooms, which complicated the surroundings."
Walter and the league approached Melbourne Water on Friday morning to ask for specific weather modelling, which helped with the decision.
Walter praised both clubs for their dealings with the league over the games.
"The rules don't cover all the unique situations that can happen so we got the right people in the room to make an informed decision," he said.
He said wind and a break from rain would allow grounds to dry quickly but some low-lying grounds could be a heavy for weeks.