Tag Archive for: Club’s

Storm funding helps over 100 clubs

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Storm funding helps over 100 clubs: More than 100 sports clubs and organisations have already received grants from an emergency storm relief fund launched earlier this month.

Set up by Sport England to help those affected by storms Ciara and Dennis, the fund has seen grants of up to £5,000 being awarded across the country.

Many clubs and organisations are still unable to safely access their facilities and the grant scheme remains open, with Sport England promising a “quick decision process and access to cash for places in need”.

According to Sport England’s director of property, Charles Johnston, the funding is being used for decontamination, skip hire, equipment replacement and access repair.

“Floods can have a devastating impact on local sports organisations, causing damage to clubhouses and grounds and denying communities a chance to play sport, often for weeks and months on end,” he said.

“We’ve developed guidance on how clubs can take action to protect themselves from extreme weather conditions, which includes drought as well as flooding, and our flood relief fund is available to help clubs deal with the immediate impact.

“In the longer term, we will work with communities, as we have with Carlisle since they were devastated by the floods of recent years, to make their facilities more resilient to the effects of climate change.”

Playing fields and clubhouses are particularly vulnerable to flooding in England, as many of them are located on flood plains as a result of the cheaper, flatter land.

According to Dr Iain James, a specialist in sports flood recovery and design at TGMS Sports Surface Consultants, “more needs to be done” to cope with extreme weather.

“I have worked with many flooded clubs since 2007 and I see the devastation to sports clubs and their members, many of whom are volunteers,” he said.

“To those clubs affected I would reassure them that there is support there and with the right advice, decision making and funding it is possible to recover and to build resilience to flooding in the future.”

Clubs and organisations affected by flooding can apply for funding help through the portal. For more information, click here.

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More support for golf clubs

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More support for golf clubs: As sustainability and climate action become increasingly important to all types of businesses, including golf clubs and courses, GEO Foundation continues to add new benefits and services to the OnCourse programme. 

Through continual dialogue with golf club and course managers and golf associations, and as part of the mission to keep adding value to the growing number of people OnCourse, new features include:

More support for golf clubs

  • Annual Sustainability Scorecard– tracks the 32 Sustainability Metrics for Golf, giving clubs easy access to key data and year-on-year trends, plus professional-standard presentations and graphics prepared for each club.
  • OnCourse Carbon Calculator– calculates carbon emissions, sequestration & balance plus guidance on how to improve.
  • Communications materials– more ways to communicate with colleagues, golfers and community – including monthly themed campaigns for clubs that want to do more around a particular issue.
  • Consultations – free call to determine which aspects of OnCourse will best meet a club’s aims and needs, and how to get started or connect with additional support if desired.

Now in eleven languages, the programme is proving to be a valuable resource for clubs and courses of all sizes around the world, with more clubs now joining every day to unlock the many business benefits of sustainability and to play their part.

As described by one club recently, “OnCourse provides a vision of how golf clubs can and should be in the 21st Century – as clubs that act as stewards for the land, use resources responsibly and are integrated as part of their communities.” – Bob Roberts, Market Harborough Golf Club.

Clubs around the world have already shared hundreds of examples of this type of action, their projects and results, provided as an always growing library of ideas in OnCourse and also helping to strengthen the reputation of golf and the value it brings to nature and people.

Over the coming months, many workshops and events are taking place with GEO Foundation and partners, check with GEO or your local golf association for more information.

And in the UK, visit the BTME Sustainability Zone in January 2020.

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Rugby club’s open invite to vandals

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Rugby club’s open invite to vandals: A rugby club has condemned the actions of vandals who drove on their pitch and left tyre marks strewn across the muddy playing surface.

But Phil Prangnell, facilities manager at Dereham Rugby Club, has urged those responsible to curb their ‘boredom’ by joining the team and trying their hand at the sport.

Mr Prangell first discovered the damage when he arrived at the club on Tuesday morning and immediately spotted tyre marks across the pitch.

It means the club – based off Moorgate Road in Toftwood – faces a race against the time to get the pitch back up to match standard ahead of their next home fixture.

“When you pull up at the club you cannot miss it,” he said.

“In the summer timer we tend to get kids on scooters and a few in cars on the pitch, but it doesn’t do a great deal of damage. Obviously at this time of year it’s a different story.

“We’ve now got to try and repair the pitch for the next match and just hope it grows again where the tyre marks are.

“Along with people who don’t bother clearing up their dog mess, this is a real frustration.

“Why would you want to mess things up for other people? I’m sure there are plenty of other places around here where they can go off-roading.”

Despite the inconvenience of having to rectify the damage, Mr Prangnell believes there could ultimately be a positive outcome.

He has invited the vandals to join the club and better use their time by playing rugby – instead of going out of their way to destroy the club’s property.

“If they are that bored they should come along to the rugby club and get involved,” added Mr Prangnell, who has been supporting the club for several years. “You never know – they might enjoy themselves.

“We’re a friendly club and players of all abilities are welcome. If you’ve never played before, we’ll you up to standard.”

Dereham Rugby Club trains from 7pm to 9pm on Wednesday evenings. Matches are played on Saturdays.

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Golf greens destroyed with clubs

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Golf greens destroyed with clubs: A golf club is counting the cost of a ‘disheartening and stressful’ vandal attack.

Seven out of the 18 greens at Oldham Golf Club were hacked at with a golf club or clubs.

Golf greens destroyed with clubs

Photographs posted by the club on social media show one green with dozens and dozens of divots in the surface after what they described as ‘sustained and mindless vandalism’.

The club’s greenkeeper spoke of his upset and described some of the damage caused as ‘irreparable’.

Nick Lawrence said: “I could have sat down and cried.”

Founded in 1892, the moorland course on Lees New Road in Oldham is noted for its views of the surrounding area at the foot of the Pennines.

Mr Lawrence said he arrived at the club to discover the damage on Saturday morning.

He said he believed the attack took place on Friday night and a golf club or clubs were used.

The cost to repair the damage is unclear at the moment, Mr Lawrence said.

He described it as ‘mostly just time and labour’, but said some of the damage caused would not be able to be repaired.

“It was just a mess,” he said.

“I’ve spent the past three days fixing it.”

Mr Lawrence and Derek Saunders oversee the management of the club.

“There’s just the two of us that work here,” Mr Lawrence said.

“I arrived on Saturday morning to find the damage and have looked through the CCTV. The course suffered damage to seven of its 18 greens.”

He described the attack as ‘disheartening and stressful’ and added: “There’s always kids playing football on the first green.

“The course isn’t meant for that.

“Kids come along with studded trainers and damage the grass.

“Grass re-growth in the winter months will be the biggest issue in restoring the golf course to its previous condition

“The seeds won’t grow at low temperatures.

“It needs to be around 10 to 12 degrees for them to grow. It won’t be the same again until at least March or April next year.”

Mr Lawrence said the club hasn’t contacted police about the incident.

Instead, the club has taken to social media to raise awareness and appeal to anyone with information to come forward.

“We need your help to find the offenders and bring them to justice,” said a statement on the club’s Facebook page.

“Our greens have been subjected to sustained and mindless vandalism overnight – seven greens severely hacked with golf clubs.

“Extremely upsetting for our greenkeeper, members and visitors.

“Who would do this?

“What is the point of it?

“This is criminal damage. We need your help to find the offenders and bring them to justice.

“Have you heard anyone bragging about it?

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Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs

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Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs: SGL is introducing a brand new grow lighting product line which makes grow lights possible for sports clubs who never had the budget before.

With the SGL Basic line they aim to enable grass quality improvements in different layers and levels of sport. This will lead to better and safer playing surfaces throughout the year for lower professional sports leagues and training grounds, but also schools and local sports clubs.

Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs

SGL have taken different measures in the engineering, production and shipping process to reduce costs to a minimum, while still delivering high quality and durable products. SGL product developer Kristel Meijer: “For the Basic line we designed every part from scratch, in order to optimise the use of materials, increase efficiency and keep the SGL quality demands. We use these same parts for all products within the product range, which makes production more efficient and cheaper. In addition, the products are shipped to the customer in an ‘Ikea style’ self-assembly package. This reduces shipping space by 90%, meaning an extensive reduction of shipping costs.”

The first lighting system in the Basic line is the BU50. Its seven HPS fixtures promote photosynthesis by applying PAR light and additional heat, which enables and reinforces grass growth on all sports playing surfaces under all circumstances. The BU50 treats a surface of 50 square meters and recovers grass after games and events, to ensure pitch quality throughout the year regardless of climate conditions.

Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs

In due course, more products within the Basic line will follow. SGL founder Nico van Vuuren: “Almost 20 years ago we introduced grow lights to the world of football, which then started a revolution in premier league pitches. Now, we can offer this opportunity to clubs throughout all levels of sport and we hope to do the same for them.”

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