Facilities and Rugby
RIGBY TAYLOR AND MAIDSTONE RUGBY PITCH IN
TO IMPROVE PLAYING SURFACES
A week is a long time in politics, according to the idiom. But
for Bob Hayton, grounds chairman at Maidstone Rugby, deciding
whether to aerate or apply fertiliser, for example – or to delay either
for a few days – can, he says, make all the difference to successful
pitch care.
“The weather can change so quickly,” he says, “so it is crucial to
time any application of granular feed for when rain is forecast within
a day or two. Likewise, there’s wisdom in holding back on aerating
when it is very wet, whatever the size of the tractor.”
Groundscare ‘rules’ such as these were imparted to Bob
two years ago when, with no sports field groundscare
experience but lots of enthusiasm for improved
pitches spurred by his spell as a player for the
rugby union club’s veterans squad, he took the
reins as volunteer grounds chairman of the
Kent-based club whose 1st XV competes
in the London 2 South League.
“I ‘shadowed’ my predecessor for
a couple of years before I took on the
role so I knew something about pitch
care,” says Bob, who adds: “The former
grounds chairman – who I actually work
for and is a successful local farmer and
a great sponsor of the club – achieved
great improvements to the pitches, and
he impressed on me that knowing when to
do things and when not is key to keeping the
pitches playable and presentable.”
The three pitches are natural grass on soil, on clay,
and are effectively ‘tiered’ on a sloping site next to a large
car park which means we get a lot of water run off when it rains.
In the past, this water has caused major problems in terms of
large patches of ‘greasy’ or ‘soft’ ground. But now, with Bob and his
team of around eight volunteers steadfastly applying lots of sand in
recent seasons complemented by regular aeration, “thankfully the
surface water is nowhere near as bad and it doesn’t stay on the
surface too long, either”.
He continues: “The pitches are renovated each year (by Rigby
Taylor) with a concerted programme of deep spiking, including
Earthquaking, and they have a lot of sand applied – probably 30
tonnes over each pitch each year.” Despite this, when there is a lot of
rainfall certain areas of certain pitches do still have (smaller) puddles
so, says Bob, “we’re constantly aerating to a depth of four inches
and hand-forking some areas then ‘topping’ up the sand on patches.
Problems like these cannot be solved overnight, but we are getting
there”.
Bob’s enthusiasm for aerating and the use of sand was spurred
by a visit from former Twickenham grass guru Keith Kent, as part of
the RFU’s initiative to help grassroots clubs. “Also, the accompanying
machine demonstrations really opened our eyes to the lack of
equipment we had.
“The input of a fellow veteran player, Martin Maytum,
has also been important to the improvements we’ve
made here. Martin has imparted his sports field
groundscare experience – he has been in
the industry for more than thirty years –
and is a volunteer pitch advisor for the
Rugby Football Union, and has recently
joined Rigby Taylor as the technical sales
manager for this area.”
In addition to addressing the
club’s equipment situation, Bob and
his team have instigated a concerted
maintenance programme that not only
involves Rigby Taylor’s annual renovations
but also includes amenity supplies from
the company such as the use of the Sports
Field Renovation seed for overseeding (on the
rye grass base sward), Delta Sport super-maxi
granular fertilisers and iGO line marking machine
applying Impact paint.
“I do compare these products with others but have always found
Rigby Taylor products to be effective and competitively priced,” Bob
comments.
Coupled with a sward height of 30mm and a dedicated approach
by the team of volunteers, the pitches hold up well to their constant
use by the 500 or so club members comprising four senior men’s
teams as well as youth and mini sections covering age groups from
U7s to U18s: two of the three pitches are in action every Saturday
and Sunday.
www.rigbytaylor.com
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