Not often do we witness a real game changer, but the recent victory by England Lionesses over Germany in the European Cup, may be just that.
Forever it seems, girls sports have taken second place to boys, in the provision and use of sports facilities. With two of the three main field sports predominantly the domain of boys – football and rugby, with the third – hockey, shared, only minor investment went into a girls only sport – netball.
But this is already changing, and the momentum generated by the Lionesses, could see a rush to provide more facilities that are as relevant to girls as they are to boys. In fact, we expect to see more “girls only” schools looking more closely at providing football surfaces.
For CCGrass, this is welcome news, where the focus has always been to provide high quality, performance driven, safe sport systems for everyone. Bryn Lee, CEO of CCGrass UK comments,
“Whilst hockey pitches have always been suitable for both male and female players, 3G pitches have focussed far more on boys sport, and there are a lot more of this type being installed every year. I believe we will now see many more girls play football, and schools that don’t already offer this sport, will have to adapt to the new demand.”
This means some traditional hockey schools may need to reconsider what surface they have on their synthetic turf pitch. Bryn continues,
“In hockey the ball rolls quickly on top of the surface, in contrast with football, where the roll is much slower as the larger ball sits in the turf. To cope with both sports, you need a compromise. Traditionally girls schools have opted for synthetic hockey surfaces, but may now want to consider a surface more appropriate to dual football/hockey use.”
The R&D team, located in the extensive research department at the CCGrass main factory, are about to launch a new turf system, designed for both sports. Coleen Sun, Licensing & Testing Manager at CCGrass explains,
“Our new Kone yarn is designed for both sports, offering unique capabilities, that provide the perfect solution for school sport.”
To find out what is the right turf for your facility please contact support@ccgrassuk.com
