NEW GREENFIELDS' ARTIFICIAL TURF PITCH A BOON FOR WELLINGTON

GreenFields, the global experts in the supply and installation of artificial turf pitches, says that artificial pitches give a ‘new lease of life’ to sport in cities.

The company has recently installed a world class artificial turf pitch in Te Whaea to enable play in the worst winter conditions in Wellington.

Used by Wellington Phoenix, boasting stars from the New Zealand World Cup squad, along with the All Blacks Rugby Union squad and the local Rugby League team, the Wellington Orcas, the new pitch has had an intensive work out during the winter months when a number of grass surface pitches in Wellington were unavailable.

GreenFields Pacific Director, Robert Mathews, said today that world experience had showed substantial health and cost-benefits to sporting clubs and cities by having playing surfaces which were ‘open’ throughout winter months and provided players with the opportunity to compete.

“It gives them the power to change what would otherwise be dismal and sometimes chaotic situations in sporting fixtures, or just healthy recreational activities,” he added.

“Several sports governing bodies including the International Federation of Association Football and International Hockey Federation promote the use of artificial turf for professional match play because of the large number of advantages they offer. For many teams around the world, artificial turf is often the preferred solution.”

Popular applications for sports turf include football pitches, rugby pitches, hockey fields, baseball fields, lawn tennis courts, bowling greens and golf putting greens. With an annual average rainfall of over 1250 mm in Wellington, maintaining grass pitches in good condition year round is almost impossible. During the winter months, grass pitches can quickly become mud baths.

This was one of the key reasons that the Wellington City Council chose to install a new GreenFields artificial turf pitch at Te Whaea which can be used in all weather conditions.

The new artificial turf pitch has been used in excess of 60 hours a week, even in the wettest winter months without sacrificing the standard of game play.

The new GreenFields artificial turf pitch was officially opened by Wellington City Council Mayor Kerry Prendergast and All Black legend Andy Leslie along with 2010 World Cup stars James Bannatyne and Andrew Barron from the undefeated New Zealand All Whites team.

Kerry Prendergast said the new GreenFields pitch will be a welcome relief to the sporting community following another wet winter and will take some of the pressure off other sports fields in the city.

“Growing demand and wet winters puts the grass fields under increasing pressure and cancellations lead to frustration for players and fans alike,” she said.

The pitch will be made available for international teams to train on during the 2011 Rugby World Cup hosted by New Zealand.

The pitch has been built to meet the demanding standards set down by The International Rugby Board (IRB) and Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Both of these leading governing body accreditations are aimed at the highest level of safety, playability and replication of natural grass facilities whilst providing all year round availability.

The field is already widely used by the community, with as many as eight football matches being played on the pitch on one day.

Tom Randles, Junior Development Coach of Capital Football said; “While the rest of Wellington pitches were out of bounds due to the evils of winter, Te Whaea demonstrated its true worth to the development of football in the Wellington region. It is a wonderful acquisition for our game.”

“Let’s keep pushing for more and more of these all-weather surfaces,” he said.

Robert Mathews said: “Our ability to transform an old car park area into an exceptionally high quality sports field, capable of hosting international matches shows the quality, flexibility and robustness of our artificial turf pitches offer. We are proud to have delivered this multi-sport pitch which serves both international codes and the community in an environment that would overwhelm traditional grass pitches.”

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About GreenFields
GreenFields, with its headquarter in Genemuiden, The Netherlands, is a leading global player within the industry of synthetic turf and a specialist in development, production, supply, installation and maintenance of synthetic turf systems. Diversity through development is one of the core strengths of GreenFields, with sales partners in over 100 countries including manufacturing in The Netherlands, South Africa, Korea, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates and strong alliances with manufacturers in Australia, Russia, North and South America.
As one of the first producers in the synthetic turf industry, GreenFields has recently been awarded the FIFA Preferred Producer status. Being a FIFA Preferred Producer for Football Turf acknowledges the sustained efforts of GreenFields to offer the game and the football players the highest standards and playing conditions worldwide.
For more information call Ed Donkers at GreenFields on +31 (0) 38 3372010 or mobile +31 (0) 6 52639389