make the best 11-A-SIDE The Foundation is
increasingly investing in 3G artificial surfaces
9V9
running and maintaining the facilities is often not being picked up by the local authorities,” Thorogood says. “When we back a project, we need to make sure the facility not only meets the need of the local community, but that there’s a business plan that includes ideas on driving revenue.” Crucial for revenue generating
activities is that the facility is open to business as often and as long as possible. This increasingly means investing in artificial turf and floodlighting. For Thorogood, artificial surfaces are a must at grassroots level. “We're moving towards investing in 3G artificial pitches,” he says. “The reason we have a heavy focus on 3G pitches is because, even the most perfectly manicured and maintained grass pitch will only give you four to five hours of usage a week before it begins to deteriorate. And as we know, hardly any of community grass pitches are perfectly maintained. “If we install a 3G pitch and supplement
it with floodlights, we can pretty much guarantee the club or operator gets 85 hours of usage a week out of it – no matter what the weather.”
WHO'S RESPONSIBLE For Thorogood the future of grassroots boils down to one question – who's responsible for providing sport as part of the health of the nation? “Football is by far the largest sport in
this country and still dominates in terms of interest and participation,” he says. “But if you go to the continent – to France, Germany or Belgium – you’ll find that it's mandatory in those countries for local authorities to provide the kind of facilities that are supplied by us (The Football Foun- dation). So not only do councils have to provide them through the local taxes, but they have to maintain them. “Driving through France or Belgium,
you’ll see that every single village has a perfectly manicured grass pitch or a 3G pitch, accompanied by a stand or a clubhouse because the local authority is mandated under the federal government to provide that to the community. “Unfortunately in the UK that's not the
case. If a local authority’s budget is cut it is often leisure and sport that suffer first. And until that changes, all we can do really is make sure that whatever money comes our way, it is used as effectively possible.” l
sportsmanagement.co.uk issue 3 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
MINI SOCCER 5-A-SIDE FUTSAL
markharrod.com 01502 710039
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