MULTI-SPORTS
There isn’t much we can do about that during the season, apart from the ‘keep off the pitch’ signs and the cricket square
”
having a fence around it, because the goalmouths back up to it
too bad and, when you’re on the pitch, it isn’t too worn. The goalmouths always used to open up, but that doesn’t happen anymore. So I feel the work we have done has made a difference and, when we seed after hollow coring, the seed sits quite far down, but what you see when the seed starts to come through is the actual plant base is below so it can’t be kicked out, and I think that helps as well. I definitely think we’re better all-round than we were six or seven years ago.”
Progress is what Dan is after and it continues into cricket. As we sit talking in mid-March, the cricket season isn’t too far away and a plan for recovering the outfield from the ELE League and the damage caused by parents is ready to be executed, but will have to be done at the same time as seven pitch renovations and bowls maintenance.
“The biggest square out there is fourteen strips across, and the outfield is surrounded by the junior pitches, so it’s awful at the moment,” Dan began. “The first thing I’ll have to do is get that going because it’s a lovely cricket square, but there’s no point
After you’ve just
renovated it with the loam being a bit sticky, you don’t want kids walking through it. I’ve even seen someone setting up cones on there for the kids to train
” 92 PC April/May 2020
having a beautiful cricket strip when the outfield is a bombsite. We’ve got to get onto it as soon as possible, get some seed sown and get things levelled because of the traffic and the goalmouths and where the parents walk through the middle of the pitches - it’s like they dig holes, I don’t know what they’re wearing on their feet!” “But there isn’t much we can do about that during the season, apart from the ‘keep off the pitch’ signs and the cricket square having a fence around it, because the goalmouths back up to it. If you’ve got a football constantly going on there, with the kids running on to get it, and all you’ve got is a rope, what can you do? And the parents just moved it out the way and walked across it.”
“After you’ve just renovated it with the loam being a bit sticky, you don’t want kids walking through it. I’ve even seen someone setting up cones on there for the kids to train. So we’ve now put up a Heras fence which has definitely kept them off because it’s set-up as a dog-leg, so no balls are going on there. The downside is it’s a fence with concrete feet, so there are dead spots
where they are. But once we take it down, I scarify it a couple of times and seed it, and then irrigate those areas, so we normally get those bits back pretty quickly.” “Dave does really good work on the
cricket squares and I renovate the surrounding areas and pitches. It’s literally non-stop. I’ll still be renovating things when the season comes around again if certain areas don’t come back or whatever.” “The winter months are generally pretty chilled; it’s been difficult with the weather, but it’s the summer that is hectic. For example, even if I’m supposed to be finishing at 1.00pm, I’ll stay until 6.00pm to get something finished; sometimes I just have to do it. Especially if I look at the forecast and there’s rain coming. Then I’ll want to get as much done as possible, so it all gets washed in. So, a typical week like this one, I’ll be here until 6.00pm on a Monday and Tuesday, at 1.30pm on a Thursday and then 6.00pm on a Friday. Sometimes, I’ll stay until six every day just to get as much done as possible. It all depends on what’s going on and what the weather is doing. I just try to be as flexible as I can and
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