AusLeisure

Victoria's City of Whittlesea has unveiled Australia's first 'Soccer Real' synthetic turf pitch.

Provided and installed by successful tenderer, TigerTurf, the state of the art synthetic football surface has brought international standard football pitch quality to recreational players.

Speaking at the recent opening of the pitch at the Harvest Home sportsground in Epping, Whittlesea Mayor, Cr Elizabeth Nealy said "the surface imitates the look, feel and play of a natural grass surface without the need for watering and will lead to savings of three million litres of water annually."

Mayor Nealy said the $740,000 synthetic pitch, which is illuminated by $138,000 of new lighting, had not been allocated to any one club but would be shared by a selection of local clubs, explaining that âa roster has been developed which enables the ground to be used five nights a week between 4pm and 11pm by seven local football clubs (while it) will also be available for school use on weekdays and club competition on weekends.

He added "allowing clubs to train on the new facility reduces the 'wear and tear' on their home grounds, all of which are feeling the stress of the ongoing drought conditions."

The City of Whittlesea is to allocate a further $1.13 million from its 2008/2009 budget to construct two new synthetic sports grounds at Mill Park Secondary College in partnership with the school and the Victorian Government, the Mayor explaining that these âgrounds will be built to accommodate local junior football, junior cricket and Australian Rules Football training.

"With the increasing demand for improved recreation facilities and the ongoing drought and water restriction to public sports grounds, Council has decided that construction of these synthetic grounds is a more viable sustainable option."

Developed by TigerTurf's UK-based parent company, Soccer Real is the firmâs leading football product. The result of years of research by the TigerTurf technical team, Soccer Real complies to the highest international standards meeting all performance criteria on ball roll, abrasion and resilience.

The exclusive yarn incorporated into this specialist TigerTurf football surface is an advanced monofilament produced by renowned Italian manufacturers Radici. Unlike conventional yarns, which have a flat profile, Soccer Real's oval yarn gives the surface extra resilience providing more durability and a greater recovery. This not only means the surface displays prolonged life, but the performance of the surface will not deteriorate in the way some conventional surfaces have done in the past. Even on highly used areas of the surface, the fibres resist from flattening.

With traditional turf surfaces faced with problems of overuse and drought, synthetic turf pitches appear increasingly attractive to sports clubs, local councils and sports venue managers. Footballâs international governing body FIFA is now endorsing synthetic turf pitches â surfaces that are unaffected by weather, manufactured to exacting international standards and cleverly designed to ensure optimum performance. Performance of the playing surface being an important feature - grass pitches in poor condition can affect the success of clubs and increase the chances of players sustaining injuries.

FIFA licensee TigerTurf has ensured that Soccer Real provides a sure-footed, shock-absorbing surface that cushions impact and protects players' physical safety.

TigerTurf can be contacted on 1800 802 570 (in Australia) and 09 634 4134 (in New Zealand).

Click here to visit the TigerTurf website.

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