Don’t let rain stop play

With the coming winter set to be one of the coldest on record, schools, leisure centres and sports clubs across the country will already be working to ensure that the predicted inclement weather doesn’t stop play. Though a few disruptions may be inevitable, by acting before the winter weather sets in, you can avoid unnecessary inconveniences and preventable stoppages.

If you have a tough and resilient artificial pitch or court to look after, here’s how to maintain your surface and keep your sports centre running smoothly this winter.

November

Water logged pitches can be a real problem in the UK, especially during the winter months. As most cases of water build up are caused by debris clogging up the surface and preventing proper drainage, it’s important to decompact sand filled, sand dressed, 3G and 4G surfaces on a regular basis. If the water doesn’t drain quickly enough, you can be left with silt patches and dirty marks on your pitch. This is generally a sign of aging and often requires a chemical treatment or full infill replacement.

As water will cause the infill in your surface to migrate, it’s important to have your levels checked regularly throughout the year. A professional maintenance programme will help to keep your levels spot on as well as prevent a build up of live algae in water based surfaces. This will provide your players with an excellent surface throughout the year come rain or shine.

December

Before the rain and snow really set in, it’s important to do a bit of maintenance to ensure your pitch, court or running surface is in good condition.

If you come across any drainage problems, it’s important to get them sorted before the mercury drops. If water gets into cracks in the surface of your court, pitch or running track, it will expand when frozen and create more maintenance problems.

January

Since January and February are generally the coldest months, it’s important that you have all of your maintenance fully up to date by the time the New Year rolls around.

The steps that you’ll need to take in January to keep your facility open will depend on the type of surface that you have. Football and rugby pitches can often be cleared of snow and ice using pdv salt. Simply spread the salt onto the surface and it will clear in a relatively short amount of time. Avoid using rock salt or grit as this can damage the artificial surface and also damage the environment.

Sarah Knapton, Science Editor at the Telegraph states:

“This year’s El Nino looks set to be more powerful than usual with forecasters predicting the strongest since 1950”.

For the UK, that means ice, snow and freezing temperatures, so make sure you act now to prevent your sports facilities grinding to a halt this winter.

To find out more about artificial surfaces, get in touch with a member of our team or have a look round our site today.