Gamekeeping, Field Sports and Country Pursuits

Posts Tagged ‘Outdoor Sports Surfaces’

There was a time when sports outdoors meant running off to the nearest playing field with friends for a game of footie, or to the local cricket club for matches with neighbouring clubs in the long and lazy summer months. 

Sadly, over the years many playing fields have been swallowed up by the need for housing. 

It is now a government priority to encourage and increase participation in sport by providing both indoor and outdoor sports facilities that are accessible to more and more people.  Local authorities, as well as schools can apply for funding to add to or upgrade their sports facilities. 

And what an amazing range of sports equipment and facilities is there to choose from.

With the aim to providing an all-weather facility for year round use, popular choices for outdoor sports surfaces include synthetic grass, bitumen macadam and polymeric surfaces.  Such surfaces are particularly suited for Multi Use Games Areas where a variety of sports such as tennis, netball, basketball, 5-a-side football, and hockey etc can be played.  Artificial or synthetic surfaces are available in a choice of colours and allow court markings to be made in different colours for different sports on the same pitch.  MUGAs also require a protective fencing as well as floodlights so that they can be used in poor light conditions. 

Of all the outdoor sports, hockey in particular, is suited to the use of synthetic grass.  As a result the game has changed and become faster.  Synthetic hockey pitches have traditionally been water based with its own irrigation system.  However latest products include sand dressed synthetic pitches, which are more eco-friendly.

‘Third generation’ synthetic grass has been developed to the exacting standards of the Football Association and has been found to be safe and suitable for sports such as football and rugby at training as well as championship levels.  

Similarly, complete synthetic cricket pitches are available for practice or training purposes that closely resemble the playing characteristics of natural turf. These may be of the permanent kind, that are resistant to damage by the elements, or the roll-up, roll out variety that may also be used indoors.  Such wickets are popular with cricket clubs, schools and colleges, allowing greater use with minimum of maintenance.

Many British suppliers provide a range of sports equipment too, such as fixed or movable tennis posts and nets, basketball and netball goals, hockey goals, as well the protective netting and floodlights.  Care should be taken to choose equipment and materials that conform to British Standards.

Do you remember the frustration and anger when your favourite football or hockey match got cancelled due to muddy or frozen fields? This was a common phenomenon years ago as most of the outdoor sports were played on natural grass surfaces. It is a known fact that natural grass sports surfaces cannot withstand extreme weather conditions.  Due to its delicate and fragile nature, natural grass surfaces also require extensive sports surface maintenance and care. As a result, outdoor sports facilities providers have switched to artificial playing surfaces.

Artificial sports surfaces are fabricated from synthetic materials, such as artificial grass with sand or rubber in-fill. Such surfaces were first developed in 1965. Since, these sports surfaces have been in popular use, outdoor sports facilities located worldwide prefer them over natural grass. Not only this, outdoor sports facilities providers opt for artificial sports surfaces because they are more economical in the long run. Even after heavy rains, drainage of the surface water is a matter of only minutes on synthetic outdoor sports surfaces.

Different sports have different requirements and the artificial sports surfaces can be so designed as to exhibit different playing characteristics. Here are some of the unique characteristics of different synthetic sports pitches:

In-filled artificial turf made of polypropylene: It is the most common type of synthetic sports surface. It is built by lubricating polypropylene ‘grass’ fibres of about 5 cm long with silicon which are tufted into a primary cloth.  The back of the cloth is given a latex coating. The entire thing is then in-filled with about 4 cm layer of sand to keep the fibres upright. Such a surface is used for playing football.

In-filled artificial turf made of polyethylene: This in-filled artificial turf is made of a foamy material called polyethylene. In this case, the pitch possesses a base of expanded polyethylene which acts as an effective shock absorber. It is because the lubricated polyethylene grass fibres are shorter and more densely packed than polypropylene fibres. In addition, the turf is also filled with rubber granules up to 8mm from the tip of the fibres.

Sand-dressed artificial turf: This artificial turf is lightly in-filled with sand only up to 5-8 mm from the tip of the fibres.

Unfilled artificial turf: Some outdoor sports facilities providers opt for unfilled artificial turf. Such pitches offer greater protection to the players by reducing the abrasive effect caused by sand infill. These water-based synthetic ports surfaces are used as elite level field hockey pitches.

In-filled artificial sports surfaces can cater to a wide variety of sports. This is made possible by varying the length and the density of the synthetic grass fibres. Fibres of different length and density help in changing the playing characteristics altogether. This is the reason why artificial outdoor sports surfaces are becoming quite popular at sports facilities – be it at club, school or professional level. Even international sports associations like FIFA and UEFA have approved the use of artificial sports pitches.

There was a time when sports outdoors meant running off to the nearest playing field with friends for a game of footie, or to the local cricket club for matches with neighbouring clubs in the long and lazy summer months. 

Sadly, over the years many playing fields have been swallowed up by the need for housing. 

It is now a government priority to encourage and increase participation in sport by providing both indoor and outdoor sports facilities that are accessible to more and more people.  Local authorities, as well as schools can apply for funding to add to or upgrade their sports facilities. 

And what an amazing range of sports equipment and facilities is there to choose from.

With the aim to providing an all-weather facility for year round use, popular choices for outdoor sports surfaces include synthetic grass, bitumen macadam and polymeric surfaces.  Such surfaces are particularly suited for Multi Use Games Areas where a variety of sports such as tennis, netball, basketball, 5-a-side football, and hockey etc can be played.  Artificial or synthetic surfaces are available in a choice of colours and allow court markings to be made in different colours for different sports on the same pitch.  MUGAs also require a protective fencing as well as floodlights so that they can be used in poor light conditions. 

Of all the outdoor sports, hockey in particular, is suited to the use of synthetic grass.  As a result the game has changed and become faster.  Synthetic hockey pitches have traditionally been water based with its own irrigation system.  However latest products include sand dressed synthetic pitches, which are more eco-friendly.

‘Third generation’ synthetic grass has been developed to the exacting standards of the Football Association and has been found to be safe and suitable for sports such as football and rugby at training as well as championship levels.  

Similarly, complete synthetic cricket pitches are available for practice or training purposes that closely resemble the playing characteristics of natural turf. These may be of the permanent kind, that are resistant to damage by the elements, or the roll-up, roll out variety that may also be used indoors.  Such wickets are popular with cricket clubs, schools and colleges, allowing greater use with minimum of maintenance.

Many British suppliers provide a range of sports equipment too, such as fixed or movable tennis posts and nets, basketball and netball goals, hockey goals, as well the protective netting and floodlights.  Care should be taken to choose equipment and materials that conform to British Standards.