ISLAND BAY JUNIOR FOOTBALL CALLED OFF AT 22 DEGREES — SAUSAGE SIZZLE PROCEEDS REGARDLESS

Junior football at Shorland Park was cancelled on Saturday morning after the temperature climbed to 22 degrees, conditions one parent described as "Saharan for a kid in shin pads".

The club sausage sizzle, set up under a gazebo flapping in what was technically still a northerly, ran the full four hours and sold out by 11.30am. Organisers reported "strong demand" and "one bloke who came back three times".

Parent Hadleigh Mortensen, of Island Bay, said cancelling was the right call. "My boy went pink behind the ears just walking from the car. Bought him a sausage to settle him down."

Club volunteer Petra Whelan, on the tongs, said the sizzle had never been in doubt. "The kids can't run around in this, fair enough. But the onions were already chopped. You don't chop onions and walk away."

A MetService spokesperson confirmed the temperature reached 22.1 at Kelburn briefly before a southerly change at 1pm dropped it to 14. Several parents were still in shorts and had to be spoken to.

Next week's fixtures are expected to proceed, weather permitting, which in Wellington means nothing at all.