GAELIC FOOTBALL
“We try and save the playing pitches for as long as we can from teams using them to protect the surface so that, when the fixtures kick in, the pitches are the best that they can be.”
“This coming year may not be as bad, as now we have the generator installed and the floodlights operational on the new sand- based pitch, it might alleviate some of the problems associated with waterlogging.” “There are no real issues with shade and air flow as the pitches are quite open and there is always a wind, even on the calmest of days.”
“The 1km Fit Trail has seven fitness stations along its route. It is fully surfaced with asphalt or concrete and is also fully lit by some seventy LED street lighting fittings.” “We obtained a cost matching grant from the local Newry Mourne and Down District Council to install the lighting on the Fit Trail and this was greatly welcomed,” he said.
Maintenance work
Tiarnach and Declan fit the maintenance work in around their own full-time jobs, mostly cutting the grass once ot twice a
The footballers would like the grass kept a little higher, maybe 38mm or 39mm, with the hurlers looking for 31mm or 32mm, so 35mm is a compromise
” 66 PC December/January 2021
week.“Most of the tasks are carried out by my dad and I. We mow the pitches, normally once per week but maybe twice during the peak growing season.” “However, as both of us have full time jobs and the pitches are constantly in use, fitting the tasks in can see us doing very irregular hours, either very early in the morning or late in the evening.”
“There are matches or training on every day of the week and working around them is not easy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way as the pitches are there to be played on.”
“I am mainly the pilot on our John Deere X740 with a 62-inch cutting deck with a MCS 800 collection system. During the playing season, I have my height of cut at 35mm as it is a balancing act between the requirements for football, hurling and camogie.”
“The footballers would like the grass kept a little higher, maybe 38mm or 39mm, with the hurlers looking for 31mm or 32mm, so 35mm is a compromise. As there is a crossover of players between the two sports, there are very few complaints.”
“We have a Sisis slitter at the club which requires a larger tractor, so we get Brian Malone to carry this task out, but having agricultural tyres on his machine limits the times we can deploy it.”
“The club is looking into upgrading our machinery in the future, but on my wish list would be a suitably sized tractor with a larger mower and a multi-task implement carrier for pitch surface conditioning.” “I am limited to what I can do as regards scarification and aeration. We only carry out weed control on the hard standing surfaces using a knapsack sprayer and, having my PA1 and PA6, this task falls to me.” “The marking out of the pitches is carried out by my dad who takes great pride in ensuring that the lines are shotgun straight and highly visible. Gaelic games pitches contain three times as many lines as a regular football pitch and are double the size, so it takes slightly longer to complete.” “Dad would spend usually three and a half to four hours for one pitch if doing it on his own, which he usually prefers to do unless he has a very tight deadline to make. We obtained a new Fleet Kombi linemarker last
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