Olympic Fever: Get your pitches, wickets and running tracks ready

As a result of seeing Team GB’s impressive athletes triumph in the Olympic Games, millions of armchair sports fans back at home will be inspired to get out and get active.

As Owen Gibson said in the Guardian after the 2012 games:

“Britain’s Olympic success has helped contribute to a record boost in the number of people playing sport”

In fact, research showed that the Olympics inspired around 750,000 people to take up a sport. Though many of these amateur athletes have since returned to the sofa, many experts are predicting a similar boost in participation following the Rio Games.

If you’re responsible for local sports facilities, you could well see a big boost in the number of people using your pitches, tracks and courts in the coming months. In order to ensure you’re ready for this increased traffic, now is the perfect time to start preparing your artificial playing surfaces and giving your entire centre a bit of TLC.

De-clutter

It’s important to keep your artificial playing surfaces free of leaves, twigs, gravel and other debris throughout the year. If lots of people are using your facilities, ensuring the surfaces are clean and clear is even more important. Sand filled and sand dressed courts will also need to be brushed, de-compacted and topped up at regular intervals to ensure the playing surface stays in great condition.

Line markings

Markings on pitches and courts can easily become worn and faded over time, especially if your sports centre experiences heavy usage. Tennis courts, running tracks, and football pitches will all need to have their line markings re-drawn periodically. To make sure you’re prepared for the Olympic-inspired crowds, re-mark all of your playing surfaces to ensure they’re clear, easy to identify, and fun to play on.

Chemical treatments

The exact prep you’ll need to do will depend on the type of artificial surfaces you have in your sports centre. However, in the UK, most types of surface will require some chemical treatment to keep them free of algae and mould. If you don’t treat your playing surfaces with a product like AlgoClear Pro on a regular basis, your pitches, courts and tracks could become discoloured and start to degrade.

If you want to make sure your sports facilities are ready and waiting for the post-Olympic participation boom, now’s the time to take action.