PITCHPOWER PRIORITY LAUNCH AND Q&A
Grass Pitch Programme – June 2022
Agenda • PitchPower and the GPMF
• Project Update • Priority Launch • Access and Providing Feedback • Open Q&A
Private & Confidential
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Grass Pitch Programme – June 2022
Private & Confidential
What is PitchPower and how does it relate to applying for funding? 1.
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Once a pitch inspection is submitted, it’s reviewed by the grass pitch experts at the GMA. PitchPower is a website owned and run by the Football Foundation.
It is an interactive and stepby-step tool that guides organisations through the process of submitting information about and photos of their Grass Pitches.
They will provide a report including bespoke maintenance advice, training recommendations, and funding next steps within 21 days.
Once a report is returned to the organisation, they can use the recommendations to apply for up to £2,500 of funding per pitch through the Football Foundation if they qualify. Our Grants system links with the PitchPower system so data can be automatically moved across to complete a grant application.
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Grass Pitch Programme – June 2022
Private & Confidential
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What is the latest Project Update? Scoping
Requirements and Concepts
Development
Testing and Data Migration
Launch
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We launched the initial version of PitchPower in September 2020
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So far over 4,500 organisations have submitted PitchPower inspections and 901 clubs have applied for the GPMF
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The original PitchPower was really well received; but there are areas where we felt the user experience could be improved. We have been developing a second version for the last 9 months
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We are now at the final stage pre-launch - to release the nearly finished product to a select group of users to capture feedback before a wider launch next month
Grass Pitch Programme – June 2022
Private & Confidential
What is the Priority Launch and why have I been selected? What is it?
What are the expectations?
Why have I been selected?
As part of the final stages of testing before we launch the new version of PitchPower, we want to get a group of users to access the system and to test that the processes makes sense.
Through this exercise we hope you will:
You have been offered the opportunity to be a member of the Priority group as your site or organisation has been identified by your County FA as a priority site to get Grass Pitch funding to improve your pitch.
You are being asked to complete a full and proper pitch inspection, which will then be reviewed by the GMA, and from which you will be able to apply for Grass Pitch funding should it be applicable.
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Use the new version of PitchPower before the end of June to understand the current state of your grass pitches
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Apply for funding to improve your pitches if you qualify
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Provide feedback that will help us refine and continue to improve the experience of using PitchPower
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Grass Pitch Programme – June 2022
Private & Confidential
How do I access PitchPower and How do I provide feedback? How to access the site
How to Provide Feedback
Where to go to for help?
You can login to the PitchPower site by following this link:
Once you have completed a Pitch inspection, please follow the below link to our simple Feedback Form:
If you are having any issues in logging in or using the site, then please email:
https://beta.pitchpower.org.uk/ secure/login When you first login you may be asked to create an account. Please complete the simple registration form, and then search for and add the organisation you are attached to.
https://forms.office.com/r/ucx1N8T CzZ Once we get all the feedback we will review and work with our developer to refine the final version based on what you’ve said.
pitchpower@footballfoundation.o rg.uk
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Any Questions?
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Question When I attempted an inspection, I was asked about the budget we have available to undertake maintenance and renovation works, and how the budget is split.
What if we have no budget?
Answer Yes, we do ask about what budget you have available, as we want to capture as full a picture of how best to help you with your maintenance activities.
Topic: Pitch Inspection
If you have no budget, please simply input a zero when prompted. We will also add some guidance on the page on PitchPower to clarify this.
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Private & Confidential
Question When I was going through an inspection, I was asked to take photographs of the line markings – but we are now in the offseason and the line markings are faint or not visible.
Should I upload an old photo to show them?
Answer We’d like to capture a snapshot of where your pitch is currently so the GMA can provide an accurate recommendation on how best to maintain or improve it from it’s current state, so please take a photo of where the lines would be.
Topic: Pitch Inspection
If you do go on to apply for Grass Pitch Maintenance Funding then we’ll ask you to do 2 inspections per year, and so we’ll be able to see the line markings on your next submission.
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Private & Confidential
Question When I was going through an inspection, I was only asked to upload photos to indicate areas of damage, and not those which show areas of disease or pests.
Where should I add these?
Answer We have intentionally added a section on damaged areas where any photo’s of either damage, pests or disease can be uploaded, but in hindsight I can see how this might suggest you should only upload photos of potholes or actual damage, and not pests or disease.
Topic: Pitch Inspection
We will amend the language around this section and add a pop-up help section to explain what to add to this section.
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Private & Confidential
Question When I was going through an inspection, I kept having to navigate back to the home page and the system lost my data – is there a way of saving it and starting up later at the same point?
Answer The system should be built to save a completed page, but there may be a few bugs that need to be ironed out to make sure this works on every page – we will flag to our developers. One tip is once you have completed a page – click next before
Topic: Pitch Inspection
navigating back to the home page, that should then save that information in the form for when you navigate back to that page later.
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Private & Confidential
Question As we are in the offseason, the ground is really hard and so we have had to purchase a core sampler to allow us to do a soil sample.
Can we claim the money back?
Answer Firstly – thanks for purchasing the soil sampler, hopefully it becomes a useful tool for you in your ground maintenance practices going forward. For anyone else wishing to purchase one, you can do so here: https://www.bmsproducts.com/shop/turf-carehand-tools/soil-samplers/impact-soil-sampler/
Topic: Equipment
If following your pitch inspection, the GMA recommend you apply for Grass Pitch Maintenance Funding, then you can claim the cost of the core sampler back as part of that grant, simply keep hold of the receipt and upload when instructed as part of the grant application process.
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Private & Confidential
Question Our club is linked to a group of other clubs that all play at the same site. Should we all do pitch inspections for our individual pitches, or one joint application?
Answer It depends on who out of those clubs has a lease or license at the pitch, and who is responsible for the maintenance / upkeep of the pitches. If each club is responsible for their own pitch then we’d recommend you do them independently, but there is nothing stopping you from booking in maintenance works together and splitting the cost to get better value for money, then claiming your part as part of your grant.
Topic: Multiple Clubs
If one club takes responsibility for the maintenance of all the pitches, then we’d recommend that club do an inspection for all of them, and then subsequently make a GPMF claim for all pitches.
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