Tag Archive for: Pitch

Pitch Vandalised For Third Time

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Pitch Vandalised For Third Time: Vandals have driven over the Rew Valley football pitch for the third time since Christmas.

The pitch, at Watcombe Bottom on Whitwell Rd, Ventnor, is home to Rew Valley Youth FC, which has 125 players and many more who train there weekly.

The damage to the grounds has been a devastating blow for the team, which has suffered an expensive season so far with lots of unexpected costs and things needing replacing.

Organisers are now desperately trying to raise funds to erect fencing around the pitches, to prevent them being driven over.

Jess Cutler, youth team secretary, said: “Being repeatedly hit by vandalism is a massive blow.

“We’re entirely run on donations and the children’s subs, which we try to keep as low as possible as we feel sport and being part of a team or club is really important for young people. It not only keeps them fit but teaches them valuable things like respect and how to work together.

“Unfortunately, since Christmas we have been blighted by vandalism. Our pitch was driven on for the third time in so many months. The first two times the damage was caused by a car driving on it.

“We hoped to stop the problem by erecting a chain across the access lane, which seemed to work, but the latest damage was caused by a motorbike which drove through a gap in the fence. We need to enclose the whole pitch.”

The team is hosting a touring club from Herefordshire for the first time soon, and is hoping the pitch will be in good enough condition.

The children are very active in the club’s fundraising efforts and have recently been bag packing, taken part in sponsored events, sold raffle tickets and run stalls at community events.

A crowdfunding page is at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rewvalley A jumble sale has been organised for Saturday, April 14, at Ventnor Baptist Church from 2pm to 4pm. A quiz night is being held at the Mill Bay Inn on Wednesday, April 11.

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Bones Found Under Football Pitch

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Bones Found Under Football Pitch: Workmen unearthed unidentified bones as they were preparing a new football pitch.

The remains were found underneath Ossett Albion’s Dimplewells pitch on Tuesday, as work was being carried out in preparation of the club merging with Ossett Town to form Ossett United.

And the discovery caused chaos, with one game being cancelled and police and forensic teams being called out to the scene.

But after initial tests, it was determined that they were fox bones and not human.

Phil Smith, chief executive at Ossett Albion, said: “I was thinking that someone had buried someone under our pitch.”

The bones were found during ground testing which was being carried out as part of plans for a new 3G pitch being laid at the site. The new pitch will become a training ground and will also be used by junior and ladies teams when the United merger goes ahead.

Workmen had taken a sample of grass and mud to see what lay one metre beneath it. But when the turf was lifted, the remains were revealed.

Mr Smith said police were alerted to the discovery and the area was taped off early in the evening on Tuesday. Investigations on Wednesday morning determined the bones were animal remains.

Mr Smith said: “There was uncertainty over what type the bones were. There was a shoe at the end of the longest bone.

“It turned out the remains were from a fox. The pitch is stood on what used to be a Victorian tipping ground. There’s all sorts under it.

“It was just a sheer coincidence that a fox died next to a shoe some 50 years ago.”

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New Pitch Renovation Package

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New Pitch Renovation Package: Germinal Amenity has launched an all-in-one seed and fertiliser sports pitch renovation package.  Containing two key elements – Germinal’s A20 Premier Ryesport seed mixture plus an appropriate selection of fertiliser products – A20 Seed & Feed offers groundsmen everything they need in order to renovate their pitches and to create a sustainable playing surface within just six weeks of seeding.

The seed element of the A20 Seed & Feed package provides a combination of four top-performing species of perennial ryegrasses.  Together, these four cultivars create a dense sward with excellent fineness of leaf, a good cleanness of cut and which is exceptionally easy to mow into stripes.  The seed mixture – Germinal’s standard A20 Premier Ryesport mixture – also offers good levels of disease resistance and fantastic post-winter recovery.  The standard seed mixture can also be customised, allowing groundsmen to create their own bespoke specification.

New Pitch Renovation Package

For the fertiliser component of the A20 Seed & Feed package, groundsmen are able to select either a soil or sand based nutrient programme.  A third option, for park pitches and local community pitches, is also available.  All three nutrient programmes are F.A.C.T.S. (Fertiliser Advisers Certification and Training Scheme) approved and have been designed to enable the new sward to achieve the best possible results in terms of seedling establishment and sward development.  Each package contains a selection of phased release fertilisers and advanced soil conditioners which provide the necessary nutrients and trace elements required during the renovated pitch’s growing-in phase.

“The summer pitch renovation season is one of the busiest periods in any groundsman’s calendar,” explains Joe Hendy, Technical Sales Representative for Germinal.  “It can also be an exceptionally stressful time of year with groundsmen anxiously waiting for the renovated pitch to be ready in time for the start of the new playing season.  With that in mind, we have created an all-in-one seed, fertiliser and nutrient advice package to help ease the pressure.”

By providing a complementary package of seed, fertiliser and F.A.C.T.S. based nutrient advice, A20 Seed & Feed makes it easier and simpler for groundsmen to renovate their pitches and to successfully create a well-established and viable playing surface.

“All too often we speak to groundsmen who simply don’t have the time or resources, or in some cases the correct technical knowledge, to develop their own over-seeding and fertiliser programmes.  By following the simple advice laid out in our new A20 Seed & Feed packages, these groundsmen can be confident that they are using the correct rate of the most suitable products at the optimum time, and that they will be giving their pitch the very best chance of going into the new season in prime condition,” Joe adds.

“All three of the A20 Seed & Feed programmes use the very best phased-release fertilisers and soil conditioners from Compo Expert to ensure that every penny invested in pitch renovation works hard and delivers the required results.”

For more information go to www.germinal.com

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New Pitch A Hit At Castle Park

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New Pitch A Hit At Castle Park: Several hundred thousand pounds was spent by Doncaster Knights on a brand new main pitch at Castle Park over the summer and it’s proving to be money well spent.

“We are into February now and the pitch is still looking good in the areas where you traditionally get some wear and tear despite Doncaster Phoenix also playing on it,” said head groundsman Lee Blagden.

“Whereas with a traditional grass pitch the grass roots are just below the surface the roots on our pitch go into a synthetic matrix mat and that makes them much stronger and less prone to damage.

“Everyone loves playing on a well-grassed pitch at the start of the season and what the new pitch – which is 100 per cent natural grass – is designed to give you is a similar surface throughout the season even though you do lose some of the grass.

“Due to the fact that we open the pitch up with a machine called a procore, which goes down five inches, it helps to avoid compacting the soil and softens the blow when players are tackled and hit the ground hard.

“The work we do also helps players’ boots dig in a bit more and gives them a better footing. With the pitch also being level and having no ruts it should help reduce ankle and knee injuries.

“We’ve been lucky with the weather so far this winter. We’ve had the rain but because of the new drainage system, which is absolutely fantastic, the rain drains away very quickly and we’ve had no puddles or soft areas.”

This week’s weather, as was the case in late December, has posed different problems.

“Because it is 100 per cent grass you have exactly the same situation as with a traditional pitch if you’ve got frost,” said Lee.

“As we’ve done in recent years we cover the pitch with covers, which we’ve done this week, if frost is forecast.

“The covers we use will generally protect against frost down to around minus 5.

“We also use them if snow is forecast.”

Although the end of the season is almost three months away, Lee and his team don’t intend to let the grass grow under their feet whilst doing just that.

“We are looking at doing an over-seed later this month at a time when the team haven’t got a home game which will probably take about two weeks to come through,” he said.

“We use a dimple seeder and that opens the ground up and lets you put a couple of seeds in and then it covers it to keep the birds away.

“We’ve already started to see some growth when we had a few warmer days towards the back end of last month.

“If I come across any areas showing wear during the winter months, and the weather is warm enough, then because of the new sprinkler system we’ve installed under the pitch we can put some new seed on the surface and it will germinate and grow.”

Although Lee and his staff are delighted with the way the pitch is looking, he says there is more work involved than with a traditional pitch.

“I would say there is double the work,” he claimed. “For a start you’ve got to make sure that the pitch is clean both after training and after matches.

“We’ve some mowers which are like a basic home mower and we go up and down and clear all the debris (old grass, mud) off the pitch so all the root base and leaf is all clean

“With it being a sand-based pitch you’ve got to try and keep your sand and plant clean.”

Lee and his staff are also charged with the upkeep of the five other pitches on the Castle Park site used by the junior section and the various senior teams below Championship and Midlands Premier level.

Knights also train on the outside pitches during the week in addition to two 40-minute sessions on the main pitch (weather permitting) and the weekly captain’s run on a Friday.

Doncaster RLFC have also used the facilities, though not the first team pitch, during the last couple of months for pre-season training

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Meeting Over Slow Cricket Pitch

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Meeting Over Slow Cricket Pitch: Faf du Plessis, the Proteas captain is to meet Cricket South Africa (CSA) officials to discuss the strangely slow SuperSport Park pitch which has remained the focus of attention during the second Test match against India.

SA won by 135 runs and the unhappy Proteas captain will engage CSA on the way forward.

Visiting captain Virat Kohli was happy with the pitch as it suited the Indians and provided turn at some stages.

Du Plessis‚ on the other hand‚ was not happy because they expected pace and bounce to assist fast bowlers Vernon Philander‚ Kagiso Rabada‚ Lungi Ngidi and Morne Morkel.

“I was very concerned when I got here leading up to the Test match‚” he said.

“It did not look like the Centurion pitch I know and that is a concern to be honest.

“I am very honest about good things when it is right and this was an opportunity that we missed.”

Du Plessis said it would not help to blame groundsman Byran Bloy but there must be discussions among all the stakeholders to ensure that this situation does not happen again in future.

“We can blame the groundsman but I think we must blame ourselves because we have made the process where we made sure that CSA are the ones who look after the groundsmen to get the right kind of pitches when we play against teams.

“We never wanted it to be ridiculous‚ we just wanted a pitch with pace and bounce.

“I think there is a concern that we are not getting it right.”

Last year against Bangladesh‚ Du Plessis expressed concern about the slow nature of the pitches in Potchefstroom and Bloemfontein and the trend continued in the first and second tests against India in Cape Town and Pretoria.

“I can think of three or four occasions where over the last 12 months and we needed to be better as a collective.

“That is something that I will be taking up to make sure that we improve.”

Proteas fast bowler Morkel is one of the players who made his feelings known about the SuperSport Park and he said it was like bowling in India.

“I have played here at Centurion all my life and I have never seen a wicket like this‚” Morkel said.

“It is really hard work in the heat and conditions are really tough.

“It is right up there with one of the hardest spells I have played.

“It is unheard of that a spinner can bowl so many overs on the first day.

“We even had the option of opening with a spinner before lunch.

“It really has a subcontinent feel to it‚ which is tough for scoring and tough to get people out‚”

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