The latest news and views from SAPCA
The scheme has been designed to register, measure and ensure the quality of installations
systems work well,” explains SAPCA’s Tony Hession. “It is not always easy to have this feedback given honestly when sought directly, but because of SAPCA’s involvement in man- aging the feedback the client is more open to pointing out issues and to praising the project. “SAPCA members are pre-qualified to carry
out these types of contracts and positively en- courage random inspections by the association. The possibility of this happening on a project provides encouragement to contractors to maintain their high standards.”
PITCH AND TRACK IN PRACTICE
A prominent example of the Pitch and Track Registration Scheme in action is at Glencorse Barracks in Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, where a 7,000sq m 3G football pitch was built for the troops based there. Working with the military on such a
substantial installation, and on ground owned by the Ministry of Defence for over 100 years, was an ideal opportuni- ty to demonstrate the comprehensive nature of the scheme and its inher- ent value to facility owners concerned about cost and quality.
Major Alan Grant of Royal Highland Fusiliers said of the scheme: “We had the best part of 600 boys with one pitch to play football on and everyone who came to the camp said we didn’t have enough sporting facilities. We now have a lovely looking 3G sports pitch which will be used for years to come.” Stuart Ross, deputy general manager
of Turner Estate Solutions, said: “The scheme gave us reassurance about the supplier and that the final construction quality would be exactly what we were aiming for.”
Creating a better play environment Graham Finnie, lead manager of facilities for sportscotland, the national agency for sport in Scotland, is very hopeful that the scheme will be instrumental in improving standards through- out the industry. “We are constantly looking for ways to
improve and maintain the quality of sports facilities, for the benefit of both users and own- ers. If SAPCA’s Pitch and Track Registration Scheme can help to boost industry standards we would actively encourage people to take
part in the scheme and only use approved con- tractors who are SAPCA members for sports and play installations. We’re particularly interested in the feed-
back service the scheme offers as it can be difficult to get feedback from facility owners. Quality feedback is absolutely essential to en- sure that we’re providing facilities that are fit for purpose and meet industry standards, and this is of huge benefit to facility owners for that reason alone.”
The scheme is intended to improve industry
standards on a national scale and supplement the provision of sport by actively ensuring sports pitches and tracks are fit for purpose. Feedback from the scheme is also being used
by SkillsActive to help SAPCA to develop a na- tional training strategy and plan that will help ensure a highly qualified work force for the sports and play construction industry. Tony Hession clarifies this key issue: “The
Pitch and Track Registration Scheme is ensuring that, collectively, standards of sports and play facilities across the industry continue to be raised. We would urge any facility designer, buy- er or operator to use only SAPCA members for the design, construction or maintenance of their projects.” • For more information, visit the SAPCA web- site:
www.sapca.org.uk l
72 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital Issue 3 2013 © cybertrek 2013
PIC: © O’BRIEN CONTRACTORS
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