NEWS
NATURAL, HYBRID OR ARTIFICIAL TURF AFTER ALL? SEMINAR ON “MODERN SPORTS GROUND INFRASTRUCTURE – NATURAL, HYBRID AND ARTIFICIAL TURF” IN MÖNCHENGLADBACH ON 29 AND 30 NOVEMBER 2017 The IAKS seminar on “Modern Sports Ground Infrastructure – Natural, Hybrid and Artificial Turf” took place in the Borussia Park in Mönchengladbach on 29 and 30 November 2017, attracting over 110 attendees from football clubs, municipalities, architects’ firms and commercial companies. bdla NRW (Federation of Landscape Architects in North-Rhine/Westphalia) represented by Michael Dalhaus and the Federal Institute of Sports Science represented by Michael Palmen supported the event as cooperation partners. One of the aims of this IAKS event was to draw attention to the current situation in sports ground construction. Christian Siegel, for example, reported that the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has estimated a modernisation backlog at Germany’s sports grounds amounting to over EUR 42 billion. The DOSB therefore insists that “national, regional and local government have to devote much more funding to sports grounds”. Matthias Eiles from the German Football Association (DFB) drew attention to the huge importance of modern sports grounds for the future of football clubs. Over and above this, Prof. Dr Robin Kähler, Chairman of IAKS Germany advocated new and creative approaches in sports ground architecture.
and the demand-driven irrigation of football pitches (Karsten Mehrtens). Oliver Schimmelpfennig reported in addition on quality assurance for synthetic surfaces and artificial turf systems. At the end of the first day of the seminar, detailed discussions and a lively exchange of views took place among participants, company representatives and speakers in the exhibitors’ village. The practical part of the seminar on the second day with a total of three topics met with great interest: • • •
Inspection of various hybrid turf pitches with Dr Harald Nonn Care of hybrid turf pitches with Georg Vievers (Head Groundsman at Borussia Mönchengladbach) Selected control tests on hybrid turf pitches with Oliver Schneider and Dr Jens Bussmann (Lehmacher/Schneider laboratory)
A special highlight was the tour of the stadium. On the first day of the seminar, the stadium’s rolled hybrid turf was removed and, on the second day, the new rolled turf was inThe talks that then followed focused on the new DFB compen- stalled. Head Groundsman Georg Vievers explained the work and shared a number of stories and anecdotes concerning the dium on sports ground construction and maintenance (Rolf change of turf at Borussia Mönchengladbach’s stadium. Haas), the New Noise Abatement Ordinance (Jürgen Gesing and Ulf Elsner) and a critical comparison of natural, hybrid and artificial turf (Dr Harald Nonn and Michael Pülm). Participants’ satisfaction is illustrated by the feedback from Ms Viehrig (City of Cologne Sports Department): “I attended the IAKS seminar in Mönchengladbach with great interest. The The other subjects were innovative turf infill granules (Jürgen Morton), modern sports ground lighting (Jörg Meyer-Brenken) subjects and speakers were very carefully chosen and I had the 12
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