Field of dreams

All field sports have one thing in common. Optimum standards will only be attained if the best of conditions are provided. And it¹s in the construction of the perfect playing surface where ITI Sportsturf¹s expertise lies.

In the greater scheme of things, the future of natural playing pitches in Ireland is not bright. Field sports are currently more popular than ever. Consequently pitches are being subjected to much greater use and abuse than ever before encountered. Coupled with the lack of any advanced form of pitch maintenance, this inevitably results in substandard playing pitches becoming the norm around the country.

Traditionally, sports fields in Ireland have been reclaimed from agricultural land. In the past, it was on rare occasions that pitches were formally and professionally laid. Rather, they were purchased, rotivated, levelled and seeded. Levels of maintenance leave much to be desired. Close-season rest and fortnightly grass-cutting constitute the basis of amateur maintenance in the majority of Irish sports fields.

A few decades ago, with smaller playing numbers and a largely undeveloped underage system, the average club playing field may have been used once every week or ten days and allowed, by virtue of a lack of games, a sufficient recuperation period. It is now nothing out of the ordinary for a field to be used five nights a week, taking into account the number of matches and the amount of training put in by players, in most cases on the playing pitch, at both adult and juvenile levels.

ITI Sportsturf is a company dedicated to the laying and maintenance of sports turf across the entire spectrum of outdoor grass-based sporting pursuits. Gaelic games, rugby, soccer, golf, cricket, tennis and hockey all fall within the company’s broad-ranging sphere. Sportsturf tends to avoid manual labour as much as possible, opting for the speed and efficiency of highly specialised machinery to create the perfect playing surface.

The company has just initiated a three-year project at Navan Rugby Football Club, where Hogan Stand caught up with Technical Director Ralph Condie and Operations Manager Clive Jeffers. Between them, Ralph and Clive have over 30 years experience in the area, after carrying out work in various venues, including QPR, Spurs, Wembley, Landsdowne Road and many of the best golf courses in the country. Four years ago, Condie worked on the reconstruction of Loftus Road pitch in London, which serves both Queens Park Rangers FC and Wasps RFC. A new, more durable pitch was required due to the fact that the pitch was to be used more often and by two sports; the project cost in the region of £500,000. Condie was also groundsman with Drogheda United FC, whose pitch has been lauded from many quarters in recent years and regularly stages under 21 and youth international matches.

Jeffers, ITI Sportsturf’s Operations Manager, is a qualified mechanical engineer. Golf courses constituted the majority of his own previous experience in the area of surface installation and maintenance, before he recognised the potential in the general construction and restoration of sports fields. Employing a staff of five, Sportsturf is now three years in existence.

There are many variables to take into account in surface installation, restoration and maintenance, with drainage an obvious example. An efficient drainage system is one of the most important factors in creating the perfect playing surface. Sportsturf uses a procedure known as sand or gravel banding - consisting of a narrow band 12-25mm wide and 250mm deep - which gives the desired level of drainage with minimal damage to the playing surface. Maximum benefits will be achieved from this procedure when installed over an existing drainage system or permeable base. Sand or gravel banding is favourable because it brings about immediate results, without causing any disruption to the playing season.

Although gaelic games lags behind other sports such as soccer and rugby in prioritising the importance of the playing surface, both company directors believe this situation is in the process of changing. “It has to,” says Clive Jeffers. “I think a lot of GAA clubs are very wary of contractors because they mightn’t have got a good deal before. Most clubs have cultural drains - three or four drains beneath the surface of the pitch - but compaction of the soil can lead to big problems arising with these drains. So GAA clubs will want to get the best contractors available to avoid getting the same treatment again. We see ourselves as a highly professional operation, sparing no expense and cutting no corners to create the best possible playing surface.”

Ralph continues: “GAA clubs, in general, don’t seem too concerned about the surface of their pitches at the moment. Whereas the best possible surface is essential for playing a high quality of soccer, you could possibly get away with having a poorer quality pitch for gaelic games. That is definitely changing, and clubs are beginning to realise the importance of looking after their pitches properly.”

But with the GAA season getting progressively longer, often going into October and November, the pitches are being used more and more, so maintenance is needed more than ever. Because of the length of the season, clubs often don’t have enough time available to carry out the required improvements and renovations.

Such a situation has meant Sportsturf has largely been prevented from creating a playing surface from scratch at any GAA venue as of yet, with the majority of work carried out by the company for GAA clubs generally consisting of maintenance and repairs. And the number of projects being carried out for the GAA is constantly growing. Sportsturf designed and installed drainage systems at Clan na Gael GFC in Dundalk and Athlone IT, and is currently installing a system for Kilkerley Emmets. The company has also done work for Na Piarsaigh in Dundalk, Redhills in Cavan and St. Mary’s Hospital in Drumcar where the Louth team train. There are a number of further projects for GAA clubs in the pipeline.

The Navan rugby club project, to be framed around the playing season, will take three years to complete. Almost 3000 tonnes of sand will go into the pitch during that time, in the form of a 70/30 sand/soil mix, to create the preferred texture. The grass habitually used in the laying of playing pitches is predominantly perennial rye grass - a hard-wearing grass that affords ample protection during the harsh winter months - combined with a small percentage of fescue, which thrives in summertime. On top of reconstructing the pitch, Sportsturf will reclaim disused areas of ground adjacent to Navan’s pitch in order to increase the training area available to the club.

At the time of Sportsturf’s founding, Ralph and Clive envisaged that golf courses would constitute up to 90% of the company’s workload. Such over-reliance on one sport has not materialised, however, and approximately 60% of Sportsturf’s business is in sports pitches. Government and lottery-aided grants have resulted in many clubs making the decision to improve their pitches. Grants are usually awarded on the proviso that high-quality, specialist contractors will undertake the job, something which has worked out well for those at Sportsturf. “Quality is the bottom line,” says Ralph. “From our point of view, there’s no point taking on a job if we’re not going to do it right, so attaining the highest possible standard is always our main objective.”

The company often devises programmes to spread a project over a period of time, normally around 3-5 years, in order to spread the cost of the job, making it more manageable for the club. Sportsturf then provides the necessary maintenance to the new pitch for the first twelve months after the work has been completed. “Clubs generally don’t have the equipment needed to look after the pitch in the early months,” Clive explains. “The first couple of cuts are critical, so we take it upon ourselves to look after it for the first while, to make sure everything is done properly.”

The modern era is ushering in a more professional attitude to the administration of clubs. It is becoming plainly obvious that improvements in standards of play will only be maintained if playing conditions are improved in tandem. In a country with such a variable climate, weather conditions can never be relied upon. But the state of a pitch comes very much under the umbrella of responsibilities of club authorities. With precision, attention and expertise, the perfect playing surface can be constructed. ITI Sportsturf possesses the necessary credentials.