Winter Sports - Rugby Union
“
We understand more now that we have to put in constant maintenance on the grounds to get the best out of them and to meet the
increasing demand on our facility
Raymond Crosbie and Dimac’s David Irvine
from the minis and from the senior players all using the pitches, but they could not recover after taking such a battering each time a game was played.” “All the machinery we had at the club for
working the pitches was very old and was in need of replacing. Bear in mind everyone who was working at the club were volunteers, and were only there when they could spare some free time. The old machinery got the job done, eventually, but they went at a snail’s pace, meaning everyone worked longer than they needed.” “Around four years ago, the committee and I decided that we would bring in Dimac to help restore the pitches back to a healthy status and, at the same time, improve the club’s overall facilities into a more professional sportsground.” “On the main training areas, we installed
drainage schemes on two pitches and some small areas of the other two pitches.” “David talked us through various
Between a rock and ... an old place; the clubhouse is due an upgrade
All our pitches are fairly open to the elements in this part of the country, so we really are at the mercy of nature
” 60 I PC APRIL/MAY 2016
maintenance schemes for our grounds and we agreed on a programme of sand application, aeration, fertilising, grass cutting and weed control to suit our budget. This programme is very flexible and has been modified at various intervals to address new problems or issues with any particular pitch that we or David bring attention to.” “Since working with Dimac we have found
a large improvement in our pitches, their drainage and the quality of the grass sward. As a club we are, therefore, able to get much more use out of our pitches even in times of bad weather.” "We understand more now that we have
to put in constant maintenance on the grounds to get the best out of them and to meet the increasing demand on our facility.” David and Martin understand that each
client’s maintenance budget is different, therefore they work closely with all their clients to understand their needs, and compose a suitable maintenance plan. And this is exactly what they do at the rugby club, using one of their more
commonly used pieces of equipment - a pedestrian aerator. Just two years ago, Dimac bought an Air2G2 and have used it on a large number of golf greens, and they are now beginning to use it on large sports turf areas, especially those which receive a lot of traffic. Raymond added: “Between Dimac and me,
the grounds receive the normal attention with aeration on a regular basis. Two of our pitches have had drainage systems installed in them for the past five years, which has helped enormously with such unpredictable weather in Northern Ireland. But, during the recent deluges, we had two other pitches that were completely submerged twice during the winter.” “All we can do when that happens is
remove all the debris strewn over the pitches when the water retreats. All our pitches are fairly open to the elements in this part of the country, so we really are at the mercy of nature.”
The demand on the pitches has got even
greater. Not only do all the Omagh Accies rugby club teams play there, but the pitches are also hired out to the local American football team who use them mostly during the summer period. The decision to use the outside contractor
was also pre-empted by a lack of modern machinery at the Omagh grounds. Some old machines were available when Raymond took charge, but these were in need of repair and modernising. “In the past, we had an old Massey Ferguson 240 tractor and a ten foot mower, but both machines required some work and were in need of being upgraded. The committee, in the end, decided against spending a lot of money on buying new machinery and, instead, chose to bring in the contractor to carry out the work. It made more financial sense to bring in an outside contractor rather than buy our own machinery.” There is one piece of machinery, however,
that Raymond would have on his wish list if it could be granted. “It would be great to have our own aerator so we can use it whenever
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