Vandals Set Fire To Football Pitch

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Vandals Set Fire To Football Pitch: A football pitch in Drimnagh has been damaged in a suspected arson attack.

The pitch on Benmadigan Road is used by local club St John Bosco.

It is believed plastic fencing that was left at the pitch was set on fire.

Pictures shared on social media by Cllr Daithi Doolan show a part of the pitch scorched this morning.

Cllr Doolan condemned those who caused the damage.

He said: “This vandalism damages the whole community. If you are involved please. Stop and think. If you see it. Report it.”

Cllr Doolan has reported the damage to Dublin City Council, who have assured him they will be cleaning it up as soon as possible.

St John Bosco have been established in the local community for over 60 years.

The successful club operates teams for boys and girls at all underage levels.

Gardai confirmed investigations into the incident are ongoing.

A garda spokesperson said: “Gardai were called to an incident of a report of a fire at Brickfield Park, Drimnagh on 9 February, 2019 – there was damage to a green area with fire burnt out.”

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Four Golf Greens Vandalised

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Four Golf Greens Vandalised: Tayside Police are carrying out enquires after four greens were vandalised at a golf course near Dundee.

The damage occurred at Camperdown Golf Course after motorbikes were believed to have been ridden around the greens, ripping up large areas of the putting surfaces.

The 1st, 3rd, 4th and 9th holes were affected.

A Leisure & Culture Dundee spokesperson said: “We can confirm there has been extensive damage to Camperdown Golf Course.

“As this is now a police matter, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time although we would encourage anyone with information to contact Police Scotland.”

Police are asking if anybody knows who is responsible and to call 101 if you do, quoting 0608 of 25 Feb.

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Vandals Target Golf Greens

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Vandals Target Golf Greens: Two greens at the Keilor Golf Club in Australia were last week ripped up after vehicles were deliberately driven across the course.

Brimbank infrastructure and city services director Neil Whiteside said the vandalism was unacceptable.

“Council is disappointed that reckless vandals have damaged the Keilor Public Golf Course by deliberately driving vehicles over the 2nd and 4th greens,” he said.

“Council works hard to care and maintain its public spaces for its community, so naturally any incidents of vandalism are upsetting and disappointing.”

He said the greens were vandalised some time between Saturday, January 19 and Sunday, January 20.

It’s not the first time vandals have destroyed a much-loved Brimbank green area.

Last September, vandals rode a motorbike through the newly opened Sunvale Park, damaging lawn and garden bed.

The then mayor Margaret Giudice labelled the vandalism an “affront to our community” and said security around the park would be increased.

But vandals were undeterred, hitting the park a further two times within a month of it opening.

The attacks frustrated the community so much that groups vowed to patrol the park in a bid to establish an around-the-clock presence and ensure it remained secure.

The vandalism to the golf course has elicited a similar reaction.

Mr Whiteside said the golf course would be repaired in the near future and security efforts would be bolstered.

“Council will work to repair the course as soon as possible,” he said. “Council is also looking at the installation of security cameras and other security initiatives at the Keilor Public Golf Course. Theft and vandalism are serious offences under Victorian law and we continue to work closely with Victoria Police to investigate these types of matters.”

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Oil Attack Ruins Cricket Pitch

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Oil Attack Ruins Cricket Pitch: Members at Wyndham Vale Cricket Club in Australia have been left devastated after vandals poured oil on one of its pitches, rendering it unusable for several months.

Liam Maloney was set to captain the club’s thirds on Saturday, January 19, when players arrived to find the pitch covered in oil.

Mr Maloney described the act of vandalism as “disgusting”.

“Oil was poured at both ends and the middle [of the pitch] in a vindictive attack,” he said.

“Wyndham Vale, a very community-minded club, has now lost that strip for the rest of the year.”

Mr Maloney said the oil had sunk into the soil below the grass, meaning it would be a long time before the turf could grow again.

“Sport helps bring a community together and WVCC is a very junior oriented-club and this leaves us with less options,” he said.

“This attacks at the core of the community by someone who most likely lives in that same community – we need help, not vandalism.

“The financial burden to a struggling club can put a club back years.”

Mr Maloney said the vandalism was “shattering” to ground staff “who pour their heart and soul into these pitches to get them up to a great standard week in and week out”.

Wyndham city life acting director David Semmens, criticised the vandalism.

“It’s disappointing when community facilities are damaged, especially when weekend sporting activities are directly affected,” he said.

“The turf table has multiple lanes, and though the damaged lane will be out of action for the remainder of this season, others can be used for the remaining home matches.

“Council will undertake remediation works at the end of the cricket season to ensure there are no long-term effects to the sports ground.”

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IOG’s Rallying Cry

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IOG’s Rallying Cry: No-one involved in club cricket will be particularly surprised that the evolution of volunteers in key roles is an ongoing concern. Struggles to recruit enough umpires and shortages of scorers is as old as the hills.

Is it as bad as it ever was? I’ll leave that to you to ponder but the relatively small pocket of volunteers propping up tens of thousands of players across Yorkshire isn’t germinating, if I can put it like that.

IOG's Rallying Cry

In his first article for Cricket Yorkshire below, former Telegraph & Argus journalist Bill Marshall looks at the issue of where the cricket groundsmen of tomorrow are going to come from.

Rod Heyhoe, secretary of the Yorkshire branch of the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG), has issued a rallying call in order to attract younger members.

In his report to their annual meeting at Cleckheaton Sports Club, he wrote: “We again published and circulated to all members our programme of events, giving details of speakers and meeting dates.”

“Attendances at meetings are still very good – long may this continue into the future. We must be doing something right?”

“But we seem to have peaked on numbers attending this year and we cannot be complacent in moving forward. We need more younger people involved in branch matters. Where are you?”

Heyhoe added: “Your committee believe that we are here to help all the groundsmen – from professionals to amateur volunteers – to raise their profile and improve their knowledge and the playing surfaces in their respective sports and pastimes.

“Just over four years after the appointments of Jason Booth and his regional advisers running GaNTIP (Grounds and Natural Turf Improvement Programme), a lot of their time has been spent helping local county FAs, county cricket boards and rugby league clubs improve their pitches.

“With the young directors and your branch officials working hard for the cause, I think we are moving forward and also encouraging the younger end into the business with apprenticeships and training schemes.

“This raises the profile of groundsmanship along the way, and it is good to see younger people attending our branch meetings, but there are not as many as we would like.”

Meanwhile, deputy chairman David Robinson wrote of the four pillars that hold the Yorkshire branch together.

He said that there were “the willingness of excellent industry speakers and sponsors who support the meetings, the sterling effort put in by Keith Johnstone and John Hawksworth at Cleckheaton Sports Club, all members and friends who regularly attend the meetings and contribute to the camaraderie, raffle prizes, cakes and overall ambience, and the small band of committee members who tie it all together.”

Robinson added: “Should any of these pillars begin to creak, the other three may begin to lean, despite all the goodwill generated to bind them.”

He also said that it was a great pleasure to listen to branch president Keith Boyce, the former groundsman at Headingley, at the ordinary meeting in December, even though he brought news of his impending retirement.

Robinson added: “Keith, you are inspirational and the reason that so many are committed to excellence in groundsmanship.”

Many Yorkshire County Cricket Club fans will remember Keith Boyce but he then transferred his knowledge to transforming the Richmond Oval, New Rover Cricket Club’s home.

Thanks to Bill for that contribution, he has had his ear to the ground on local cricket across West Yorkshire for many years and we hope to have more club features from him in the months to come.

Of course, the groundsmen may be out there already, just not necessarily members of the IOG, but the general point stands around the sustainability of cricket clubs and the key part that groundsmen play in that, along with ongoing training and knowledge transfer.

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