We received a highly commended certificate in the 2006/07 Hampshire FA groundsman awards
Matt Shockwaving ...
Contractors laid new 80mm drains every nine metres (cost approx £26k) across the two senior pitches and the part of the cricket outfield that isn’t also part of the football pitch. There has been a definite improvement, there are still wet areas, but not above the new drains. We’ve had problems since with the trenches settling and getting the grass to re-grow, but we are slowly winning.
... and using the Major mower behind the New Holland tractor
Junior goalmouth renovations, May 2008
In September 2008, PJ & CM Froud Sportsfield Contractors from Verwood in Dorset, put in 160 tonnes of washed sand on the two senior pitches at right angles to the primary drainage using a Blec Sandmaster (approx £5.5k). It’s early days, but the signs are looking really promising, even the worst areas dry within a few hours of a heavy downpour. The aim is to be able to get the tractor on there all year round so we a can spike, mow and maintain. We carry out end of season renovation work to goalmouths and worn areas using a 60/40 topdressing with Barenburg Bar 9 grass seed. All pitches are overseeded by direct drilling and have a feed and weed treatment during the summer. We plan (assuming the budget is there) to implement a more comprehensive fertiliser programme as we have established that just treating the pitches once a year leads to diseases and poor quality turf during the winter months. Also, the nutrients will be leached out quickly with the increased sand
content. In the summer we will see the opposite effect as the pitches are likely to dry out quicker and, therefore, we may need to irrigate more regularly. We have put together a yearly maintenance programme which will involve scarification, shockwaving, spiking, verti- draining and cutting more frequently. We’ll continue to topdress in September. All of this will help to encourage longer root growth, keep the top open and as free draining as possible, giving us a better playing surface for both sports. We’ve purchased two sets of removable aluminium goals for the two pitches, which has saved us a lot of end of season work and benefited the ten different teams that use the facilities. We often have seven or more matches on the three pitches over a weekend. There is also training during the week, including some clubs from outside the area, but we can’t control that as revenue is important. We received a highly commended certificate in the 2006/07 Hampshire FA groundsman awards. We were really pleased with this but they didn’t seem to take into account all the other areas of land (see below) that we, as a Parish Council, also have to manage with a team of two, plus me helping out as and when I can. The overall winner was a private ‘fenced off ’ pitch in the middle of nowhere, whereas we are open to the public 365 days.
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