Several councils across Sydney are under pressure from local sporting associations to provide more playing fields but for some, the space just isn't available.

The Cronulla Caringbah Sharks Junior Rugby League Club were forced to leave their home ground due to high-rise property development and even in their new location, further development will mean houses will be built right to the edge of the club's fields.

While the club has been able to successfully relocate, some clubs have not been so lucky in finding a permanent solution.

President of the Manly-Warringah Football Association, Jeff Smit, said that teams are being forced to play later and during weekdays as participation numbers grow .

"Teams can't train as long as they may have done in the past," said Mr Smit. "It's been a problem for a number of years and it's only getting worse."

Despite participation in football on the Northern Beaches growing 30 per cent in 10 years, only one extra field has become available to the association during that time according to Mr Smit.

The association recently launched a petition asking for more sporting fields in the area for all sporting groups with Mr Smit saying the council has been "really responsive."

Northern Beaches Council's acting general manager David Kerr said the council is currently carrying out consultations to understand the current and future requirements of local sport clubs.

Despite the council expecting to receive a report within the next few months, he said any decision would be delayed until after the September council elections.

"No decisions have been made nor will be made until a thorough and informed community consultation process occurs, which is likely to extend into late 2017 when an elected council will be in place," said Mr Kerr.

He stressed that the council is attempting to find short term solutions in the meantime to allow for more fields to be used to greater capacity.

"Council staff have been working within the current budgets to implement lighting and other field enhancement projects that will extend the capacity of some sportsgrounds in the short term."

Ground shortages are not just a one sport issue, with different groups around Sydney wanting to increase the space available to them.

Joseph La Posta, state manager for partnerships, diversity and major projects at AFL NSW/ACT said every sport is jostling for sporting fields because of greater participation rates.

"Certainly recently, all sports are growing their participation base," said Mr La Posta. "We've enjoyed some pretty strong club growth."

While rugby league, rugby union and association football have been the dominant codes in Sydney for a while, the expansion of Aussie Rules football has seen them become a more prominent fixture at weekend sports fields.

"We're the last of the four footballing codes to want to expand in this market," said Mr La Posta. "There's an abundance of rectangles"

In a bid to make sure there are plenty of fields available for those looking to play Australia's own sport, the AFL have sought to work with other football codes instead of against them. Rather than playing games when they would have to rival the other three codes, the AFL play on Sundays as a way of giving them more space and flexibility.

"On a Saturday it might be rugby league, on Sunday it might be AFL," said Mr La Posta.

With such a large number of clubs competing for space, many fields are becoming overstretched making it difficult for local councils and sports groups.

Group manager for strategic planning at The Hills Shire Council, Michael Edgar says that the range of sports played across the year stretches the resources of the council.

"It's because people are doing more diverse kinds of sport," said Mr Edgar. "We have difficulty allocating sporting fields to the clubs."

The area has struggled with sporting field shortage, with Castle Hill United Football Club previously having to turn away some players due to a lack of available grounds.

Club president Eyman Ahmed recognised the difficult position of the council but said that the club may have to turn away players this season, too.

"We have done so for the last five years and I expect we will need to this season as well," said Mr Ahmed.

The Hills Shire Council has begun a process of negotiation with the Department of Education for use of its facilities, allowing school fields to be used by sports clubs over the weekend.

Both parties are set to jointly fund an artificial field at the new Bella Vista Public School on Fairway Drive with the council providing ongoing maintenance.

"We're in the early stages of a deal with the department for the new school," said Mr Edgar. "We're looking at providing them with a synthetic playing field."

Synthetic playing fields have become a popular option for many councils due to their increased durability and lower ongoing maintenance costs.

Synthetic fields can be used up to three times as much as grass fields, and giving councils a partial solution to its sports field shortages.

AFL, football and now rugby league have all moved towards synthetic turf fields with a $6 million synthetic rugby league field and club facilities to be built at Kellyville Ridge, with the NRL co-funding the project.

Synthetic fields can represent a huge initial cost for councils with even a basic pitch costing over $1 million.

Due to the expense, many fields are co-funded by sporting associations such is the case with the Kellyville Ridge.

Most councils in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan area now has a synthetic playing field available to its local sporting clubs and associations.

Despite synthetic pitches increasing sporting field capacity, some councils are still opting to secure new spaces, rather than redevelop their existing fields.

The City of Sydney Council is currently attempting to give its residents more green space with some new playing fields included in a $400 million capital works plan.

A $50 million recreation and aquatic centre at Green Square will deliver an extra rectangular playing field to a suburb set to be home to 61,000 more residents by 2030.

A recommendation within the City of Sydney's Environment Committee's Open Plan Study stated that 20 additional sports fields should be built before 2031 yet under the current capital works plan, only ten more are set to be built within the next 10 years.

The council is beginning negotiations with schools and other facilities in the area to open up their fields for use by local teams on weekends. This move will make a maximum of five more fields available, still short of the council's own recommendations.

The time frame set for these negotiations is uncertain meaning it could happen anywhere between now and 2027.

Michael Edgar said that all councils across Sydney need to recognise the importance of having green spaces for their residents.

"It's important that we as a city, make sure we have the solutions in place to have the playing fields necessary."