News Put a cork in it!
Is rubber crumb falling out of favour as cork infill 3G installations become more popular?
WRUgrowing the game
The Welsh Rugby Union has ploughed half its 2016 revenue into grassroots projects
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has ploughed almost half of its 2016 revenue into the development of the game, with money going towards grassroots projects and facilities.
The governing body generated revenues of £73.3m over the past twelve months, up on the £64.8m it garnered over the previous year. Of that figure, £33.1m was invested back into “all levels of the game”.
Whils a portion of funding went towards the elite level of the game, the WRU “gained additional focus” on community rugby through the appointment of Ryan Jones as the head of rugby participation.
The first week in October saw the latest 3G surface with a cork infill, with Exeter Football Club installing a Desso iDNA X Smart 3G pitch.
Hampton Rangers Junior Football Club, based in SW London, had a cork infill 3G pitch installed at their training ground, courtesy of Kestrel Contractors, the club’s main sponsor, and have become the first youth football club in the UK to utilise the system.
Billy Martin, who is Managing Director of Kestrel and Chair of the club, took the decision to infill the artificial grass with cork, aided by feedback received from another of the company’s installations at Swedish School in Barnes, London.
Kestrel tested the surface at the Swedish School, via LaboSport, to EN 15330-1 and it passed with flying colours. “The key driver as to which infill to use at Hampton Rangers was based on one major factor,” said Billy, “player comfort.”
“Player comfort was the only consideration and, being mindful
In Brief... Glenisla to close
GLENISLA Golf Club is set to close at the end of this month. The 18- hole course, near Alyth, was sold to housing developers last week, with staff informed of the news at a meeting last Friday. It will close its doors for the last time on 31st October.
Developed originally by the Glenshee Chairlift Company as a summer business to make use of
12 I PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016
its full-time ski employees during the off-season, it was bought out of receivership by the Somerville family in 2004.
In 2014, it was recognised for its value for money at the Scottish Golf Tourism Awards.
Derby cut cutting
DERBY City Council councillors have approved plans to reduce the number of council-run pitches from thirteen to seven in an attempt slash their grounds mainetenance budget by £27,000.
of the fact the facility would be used in summer and that cork remains cool regardless of air temperatures, this was instrumental in the decision making process to choose cork infill.”
Restitution results show greater player comfort, i.e. less energy lost through the body, whilst cork does not radiate heat or give off fumes.
Importantly, it does not contain any of the heavy metals associated with rubber crumb and, additionally, it can be recycled and accepted in landfills at the end of its life cycle, making it far more environmentally friendly.
Another recent installations was at Newmarket Town Football Club, where FIFA have undertaken successful quality testing.
Hopefully, thanks to repeated concerns about the safety of rubber crumb, this latest trend is a case of taking the argument out of the debate.
Ryan oversaw a fifty percent increase in player numbers through the body’s School Hubs initiative,
which has been the catalyst for a thirty percent increase in fixtures played by a larger pool of teams.
The launch of Girls’ Cluster Centres - which encouraged young females into the games - has also attracted 2,000 new players.
In the coming year, it is hoped to develop different formats of the game to entice younger children and older men and women.
One of the additional focuses for 2017 will be the continued work with clubs to provide and unlock funding to upgrade facilities.
Funding Search launched
New Funding Search Tool launches to help sector secure investment
As part of wider strategic initiative to support grassroots sport organisations, London Sport has announced the launch of a new Funding Search Tool for physical activity and sport in London.
The new platform,
http://funding.londonsport.org,
has been designed to support organisations from across the physical activity and sport sector in their efforts to identify and secure new investment and, ultimately, grow the scope and effectiveness of physical activity and sport in London.
The London Sport Funding Search Tool is the first digital platform
The council will maintain pitches at Alvaston Park, Sinfin Moor Park, Darley Fields, Chaddesden Park, Chellaston Park, Moorways and the Racecourse. Facilities will be withdrawn at Normanton Park, Osmaston Park, Rowditch, Vicarage Road, Arboretum and King George V playing fields in LIttleover.
FA eye Southampton for ‘Parklife’ 3G hub
THE Football Association (FA) is in talks to bring its ambitious grassroots Parklife project to
that focuses specifically on physical activity and sport for London and, at launch, has information on grants totalling over £17,000,000 of potential funding opportunities. The tool replaces the current monthly funding bulletin; fully digitising this service is one example of London Sport’s drive to utilise technology to simplify the sector for new and existing partners.
By creating a fully searchable digital platform, London Sport have been able to instantly open up new routes and opportunities for all physical activity and sport providers across the capital.
Southampton - and will encourage bids from other cities from October.
If talks are successful, Southampton will one of four locations set to benefit from the facilities thus far.
Two centres in Sheffield have already been established as part of a pilot programme, whilst centres in Liverpool and London are expected to come to fruition, with two sites in the latter - Rectory Park and Gunnersbury - being earmarked.
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