The Wingerworth team was thrilled with its new compact tractor, roller mower and turf-grooming tool
RAISING PITCH QUALITY FOR WINGERWORTH Help through the PIP resulted in reduced compaction and excellent turf health at Wingerworth JSA FC
W By Tom Rowley Key account manager (football)
ingerworth JSA FC contacted Derbyshire County FA in March 2016 with the aim of improving its playing surfaces – two full-size 11 v 11 pitches and a mini pitch. As a result, a FA Pitch Improvement Programme (PIP) visit was arranged, and I met with the club’s groundsman Phil Toy and other club officials. Phil explained that he had just taken on the role and, with limited experience and knowledge of sports turf maintenance, was in need of some advice and guidance. The pitch was suffering from a number of issues – compaction, a significant thatch layer, poor root depth and a grass sward dominated by annual meadow grass. These are all typical issues found at grassroots club level, where limited maintenance is undertaken and resources are scarce. My subsequent report provided Phil and club with a number of recommendations to improve the quality of the playing surfaces: Improved mowing regime Scarification Decompaction Drill seeding with dwarf perennial ryegrass Fertilising. All recommendations were taken on board and implemented over the course of the following few months and the club, and Phil in particular, deserve full credit for fully committing to improving the
22 THE GROUNDSMAN September 2018
“The club and Phil deserve full credit for fully committing to improving the pitches” pitches and providing better surfaces for the 10 junior and youth teams that play and train on the site.
ONE YEAR ON
I revisited the site in spring 2017 and was delighted to see huge improvements in pitch quality. Compaction had been significantly reduced, sward quality and coverage had improved and overall turf health and presentation was excellent. One area that still needed addressing was the use of suitable machinery for pitch maintenance. In the summer of 2017, the club secured Football Foundation funding for the purchase of a compact tractor, rotary roller mower and turf-grooming tool. These have enabled Phil to speed up cutting operations and the grounds team to carry out their own maintenance, rather than use contractors. Visit www.iog.org for more details about the Grounds and Natural Turf Improvement Programme.
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