Condition of our pitches
Forums > Rugby Talk > Condition of our pitches
| Author | Message |
|---|---|
| Richard Bobbett 6th Nov 2008 11:40 AM |
We need to start discussing the condition of our pitches and the ammount of use they get, especially during these periods of wet weather. We are playing more Rugby, more Senior teams this year on a Saturday, we realistically can get four sides if we want, last year we struggled at some points to get two out!, and Juniors progressing in more competetions, this is all good news, so the club needs to think about investing to support this expansion. With senior training tuesday and thurdsay, and junior on wednesday, last night the u13, u15, u16 and u17 were all training.The training pitch is looking very poor at present, most of it seem to arrive back at our house last night on my son's kit! If we have two home games on saturday, which is increasingly likely as we have at least 3 teams out each saturday, in fact on 29th Nov we have 3 home games, and then a couple of Junior games on a sunday, plus the remainder of the juniors training on the pitches, it will soon detioriate. We obviolusy want to play and train for as much rugby as possible at all ages, so perhaps its time to think about alternatives. Some ideas: Can we acquire any adjacent field to expand the available areas? Can we acquire some portable training lights to make more use of the areas that not being played on? Can the juniors use some local facilities such as Hervines Park? Can we afford a tiger turf pitch - I suspect not! (the new synthetic surface that takes a full studded boot and is approved by the RFU) |
| Peter Osborne 6th Nov 2008 2:21 PM |
Too true. Mind you we have had a lot of rain. I would be interested to know when the Ist XV pitch was last used before last Saturday's game, it looked quite cut up. |
| MarkW 6th Nov 2008 2:44 PM |
In the absence of land acquisition (highly unlikely), we need to make better use of the grounds we do have. I think, especially if we can get some portable lighting, more use should be made of the land alongside the railway line for training purposes. We should also rotate the use of the 1st team pitch properly (and 2nd team pitch too). |
| Yogimeister 6th Nov 2008 3:05 PM |
I think the first team pitch should be just that the first team pitch! there used to be a pitch marked out next to the current training pitch, what are the chances of adding some lights to the current stack pointing the other way hence lighting up that pitch? seems like a cheaper option than tiger turf, (although I bet we need planning permission to do that!) is the ground alongside the train track not large enough to put pitch on? |
| Andy Gillanders 6th Nov 2008 3:43 PM |
I know that I am not alone in remembering when we ran 7 sides regularly, with no more pitches than we have now! How did we do that? |
| stan griffiths 6th Nov 2008 6:22 PM |
Most junior sides ran with probaly squads of circa 20 not 30+ and the minis again had squads of circa 15 not 50+ Some of the junior age groups run more than 1 team. |
| Richard Bobbett 6th Nov 2008 10:57 PM |
Great to see some sensible debate, it seems like there is potential agreement we have an issue, as always thats a long way towards fixing the issue. Just to add to the debate I disagree with our senior player Yogi about the 1st team pitch being for 1st team only, I think it will be great on the 16th November to see the Colts take on Bracknell in rnd 3 of National Cup on that pitch with a big crowd supporting them! I believe this club should invest in facilities for all our players not matter what age / ability they have. Lets hope our committee pick this thread up and continue to a positive conclusion. |
| Jerry Green 7th Nov 2008 6:42 AM |
Lets not forget that the 3rd/Vets pitch is not used very often for senior matches. We can reduce pitch wear with some pitch rotation. If a Tiger Turf training pitch is the way forward, why not make it our next big fundraiser? It looks like the RFU may provide some funding for this type of facility. |
| Tim Schrauwers 7th Nov 2008 8:29 AM |
What about another 24 hours rugby game to raise some money for whatever the solution? 
I missed the last one through injury... surprise, surprise!  |
| Boyo 7th Nov 2008 9:12 AM |
Has anyone got details of this Tiger turf pitch so I can look at the costs of it?. The only accessible adjacent land to the North of the current seconds and vets pitch, beyond the trees should remain our long term target. I have approached the guy twice in the last ten years about buying it, as it useles agriculturally, being seperated from his main field by a great dell. We should have bought it ten years ago when the farmer was selling it but it seems the current owner ,who`s house backs onto it in Copperkins Lane ,is not keen on rugby,and doesn`t want to sell regardless of price. Maybe with the current economic climate things might change. The other possibility is the woodland next to the railway but this will be a real tough proposition. Whatever it is vital our youth teams are supported as they are the lifeblood of the club and the epic colts encounters we have witnessed over the past five years as the teams have progressed in the NKOcup have been wonderful. If you haven`t been come to the next one . |
| Nic 7th Nov 2008 9:20 AM |
I've trained and played on a 3G pitch, and I must say it's fantastic. You can do full contact (it's just like playing on a watered summer pitch) and individual skills will only benefit, as we wont have to be playing with a ball, predominantly covered in mud!! You can also wear blades and moulds on the pitch, but not studs, as this will pull up the rubber and ruin it. I'm not sure how much Lufbra paid for their's but it was probably around the £100K mark, including fencing and lighting for the facilities. I'm sure that the RFU will come up with some money, and even in this economic downturn, we can always look to gain sponsorship/fundraise. The 24 hour match is a great idea! |
| stan griffiths 7th Nov 2008 10:03 AM |
A very easy fund raiser is the RFU Raffle. the Club retains 90% of every ticket sold. If every Senior player including Vets and Colts sold £50 each the Cub would generate circa £5,000 which is a sizeable sum in the present economic climate. Other fund raising ideas, please. |
| RobL 7th Nov 2008 10:26 AM |
Asking NHBC or Amersham International to sponsor the club. They'd probably want something for their money i.e. logos on flags, shirts, post protectors, a board inside the entrance of the club house, programme advertisements. Large company's in country town's are normally quite supportive of their neighbours as it benefits their business too. |
| Nic 7th Nov 2008 11:31 AM |
If we're going down the large company route, then GE have got to be a prime option. Also, pretty sure that Turkish can try and tap up Lombard (RBS) cos they seem to sponsor everything and anything, despite it being all tax payers money!!! |
| Tim Schrauwers 7th Nov 2008 11:41 AM |
I've trained on the turf at Loughborough as well and it is fantastic! Full contact in the winter... the training intensity was markedly higher due to people's comfort! They rent it out too to local schools during the day etc. would that be an option for Chilts too? Tim |
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