Athletes are abandoning athletics clubs on Sydney's Northern Beaches, after being told their damaged race track could be closed for up to two years.

The Sydney Academy of Sport athletics track in Narrabeen has been closed since December 2023, due to a lack of adhesion to the surface.

Five clubs have been hit and say the closure has resulted in a 40 per cent drop in participation.

The cause of the damage is being investigated by the NSW Office of Sport, and it won't nominate a date for the facilities to re-open until it receives the outcome of the report.

However, it has informed stakeholders that it won't be available for at least one, if not two years.

Members of Manly Warringah Little Athletics Club dispute the claim that the track is unsafe, and are confused by the damage, given it was resurfaced by the academy in June last year.

"It's the greatest overreaction I've ever seen with anything," said Geoff Davis, javelin coach at Manly Warringah Little Athletics Club.

Athletes are frustrated their calls for an onsite meeting with the Office of Sport, to review the insurers risk assessment, have been rejected.

Mr Davis says the closure of the facility has had a major impact on the athletes, who now have to travel for an extra two hours to train at fields in Homebush and Moore Park.

Insufficient alternative

The NSW Office of Sport has provided a temporary athletics track at the Narrabeen facility as an alternative.

However, it has often been unavailable due to weather conditions.

The children from the Northern Beaches Christian School have also had their sporting curriculum disrupted, after their sports carnival was forced to be rescheduled three times due to wet weather.

"Then the final occasion they were able to host it there's no atmosphere whatsoever,"' Mr Davis said.

Masters Athlete Joanna Lodge, who regularly uses the Sydney Academy of Sport athletics track to train, says the alternative provided by the Office of Sport is also used by the football players of the Manly NRL team, making it difficult to coordinate sharing the space.

"We feel frustrated like we have to discuss it at nearly every single session where we're going to run," Ms Lodge said.

Other options Ms Lodge attempted to use included facilities in ovals in Forest Lodge and Forestville, sharing the spaces with AFL and soccer teams.

Ms Lodge would often need to dodge soccer balls and was eventually asked to leave by the soccer club's president as he was worried that she and her squad would run into the children, she said.

"It's not the fact that we're being precious and we want a harden track to run on," Ms Lodge said.

Drop in participation

The Office of Sport has informed stakeholders that the facilities would not be available for the 2024/2025 athletics season.

Due to substandard surfaces, the Northern Beaches athletic community has missed the opportunity to encourage young children in sports post Olympic success, Mr Davis said.

"A whole raft of children on the Northern Beaches that would otherwise come down after the Olympics are either going to go to other sports entirely or not participating at all," he said.

Many athletes were leaving the Manly Warringah Athletics, coach Garry Temple said.

"I've lost three important seniors in the last six months because they wanted to train on a track," he said.

Mr Temple said the communication from the Office of Sport had been insufficient and inadequate.

He has concerns their clubs will be without proper training facilities for the next two years.

A NSW Office of Sport spokesperson said if alternatives provided did not meet the needs of users, they were advised to seek alternative locations to train and compete.