November 2024 World-leading products & expertise
A decade of grassroots pitch improvement
formerly the Grounds and Natural Turf Improvement Programme, was launched in 2014 and is funded by Sport England and the Football Foundation, working in association with the FA, ECB, RFL and RFU. Jason Booth leads the Pitch Advisory Service, he says: “This is a brilliant example of sporting bodies working together to raise the standards of sports surfaces and the understanding of sports turf management practices among grassroots sports clubs across England. “There has never been more pressure on pitches. Whether that’s the effect of more extreme weather caused by climate change, or more demand as a greater and more diverse range of people want to play sport.
The Pitch Advisory Service, run by the Grounds M anagem e n t Asso c i a tio n (GMA), is celebrating a decade of grassroots pitch improvement. Over the last ten years, the GMA’s skilled team
of regional pitch advisors has been working with grassroots sports clubs to raise the standards of sports surfaces and train volunteers. In that time, almost 50,000 pitches have been improved across
grassroots football, cricket, rugby league and union. The programme has worked with more than 12,500 clubs and 14,500 volunteers. The Pitch Advisory Service,
“We all want more people playing – it brings so many health and wellbeing benefits. To enable that, we need to make sure our grassroots pitches are properly maintained – grounds are literally the foundation of sport. We need to recognise
that, value grounds teams, and invest in them.” One of the clubs that have benefitted from the Pitch Advisory Service is the Ashton Bears Rugby Club in Wigan. The rugby league outfit, which hosts a total of 25 men’s, women’s, and children’s teams, had been hampered by an unstable pitch that frequently became waterlogged throughout the season. “Before support from the Pitch Advisory Service, our pitches would regularly have to close for player safety. One surface was only playable for three months of the year,” says Club Secretary, Mark Webster.
Creating consistent & high-quality surfaces Pages 16-21
“It’s truly transformed our facilities at Bear Park. We now have some of the most resilient pitches in the area – staying open when others have had to close. We’ve also been able to expand to create new women’s teams, something which previously was impossible due to the lack of capacity on the old pitches.” The GMA
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Line Marking
SIS Pitches launches ‘onestop’ cricket guide
New technology & traditional skills combine Pages 22-23
The team behind the first England Cricket Boardsanctioned hybrid cricket pitch has launched a comprehensive guide to cricket surfaces for professionals groundspeople.
The report goes on to highlight pros and cons for all types of cricket surfaces, including innovative options to encourage stakeholders to think beyond the traditional all-natural grass pitch.
Published by SIS Pitches, which produces SIS Grass Hybrid, a flagship hybrid grass technology, the Guide to Cricket Pitch Systems was designed to help tackle the unique maintenance challenges that come with an increasingly diverse range of options for cricket stadium owners and groundspeople.
Among the solutions the guide showcases are artificial carpet pitches and hybrids, including carpet, artificial and stitched – the latter described as a costeffective option for high-usage venues.
Dedicated Battery Mowers
Natural Turf Management
Globally, the International Cricket Council also sanctioned the use of hybrid surfaces for
T20 and 50-over competitions earlier this year. Paul Taylor, former England international and SIS’s International Cricket Director, said: “Demand for high-quality, durable cricket pitches is on the rise and shows no signs of
slowing down – especially with cricket being reintroduced at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. “Our goal was to provide a one-stop, comprehensive guide for anyone involved in the management and upkeep of cricket surfaces so they can
make an informed decision based on budget and volume of play. We’d like to encourage anyone considering a change in their sports surface to get in touch with our team for advice.”
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