Plans are afoot to improve 6,000 natural grass pitches
REACHING NEW GOALS IN TURF Revised plans prompt new strategy for the GaNTIP team
T
he plans by the Premier League, The Football Association and the Government’s Football Foundation to accelerate their initiative to improve the natural turf landscape have prompted a change of approach for the Grounds and Natural Turf Improvement Programme (GaNTIP) team. Funded in part by the Football Foundation, the network of regional pitch advisors (RPAs) for GaNTIP is playing a leading role in collaborating with County FA colleagues in identifying a strategy that will help improve 6,000 natural grass pitches by 2021.
The approach includes targeting sites that are currently maintained by grassroots clubs, working with local authorities to review maintenance contracts or schedules, and using the findings from Local Football Facilities Plans to identify priority sites.
EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS
The next 12-18 months promise to be an exciting time for GaNTIP and the Football Foundation’s grass pitch strategy. GaNTIP has been at the forefront of developing and providing key technical expertise on new systems and initiatives that will support this pitch improvement scheme, and the network
Key GaNTIP football statistics April 2018 – March 2019 Pitches assessed: 2,890
Pitch quality improved: 83%
Delivery of 27 awareness evenings in partnership with County FAs (CFAs) and preferred suppliers
31 training courses held; 16 IOG training courses delivered in partnership with CFAs and 15 IOG courses 192 volunteers trained via IOG/CFA courses
Pitch Grading Standard (PQS) – 70% of clubs improved by one or more PQS level 1,082 volunteers engaged with
The average age of the pitches being assessed is 20+ years (and 70% of pitches are in this age category) Match equivalent capacity has increased by 28%, from 2.5 matches per week to 3.2 matches per week
16 THE GROUNDSMAN September 2019
By Tom Rowley GaNTIP key account manager (football)
of volunteers that maintain them. Some examples include: The new Digital Assessment Tool (currently under development and expected to launch in 2020) will increase the RPAs’ reach and speed of response. The new Football Foundation Groundskeeping Community app – thefa.hivelearning.com/groundskeeping – launched last month. It is an interactive platform where the groundskeeping community can access information on best practice as well as connect with each other and RPAs to share advice and guidance. Funding – the Football Foundation will be launching new funding opportunities to support clubs that currently maintain their own sites, or have a desire to take on additional maintenance of sites they currently use. The fund will provide clubs and voluntary organisations with tapered financial support to enable their pitches to reach a minimum community standard. Further details will be announced this autumn. Visit www.iog.org for more details about GaNTIP and see page 18 for information about the new interactive ‘Hive Learning’ platform
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