The rugby pitch is the heartbeat of a rugby club which everyone of your members will eithier play or congregate around. Having a perfect rugby pitch is a key to being competitive in games and keeping members. Players don’t want to be playing in a bog every week.
In order to have the best rugby pitch you will want to consider the maintenance of the pitch including the markings and their dimensions. It is also important to understand how you will fund the maintenance.
Maintenance of a rugby pitch
The pitch should aerated, in an ideal world your will have a tractor like vechile with an aerated attached to the back to complete (perhaps talk to a local farmer about a sponsorship service in return for use of such a machine). If you do not have access to this sort of equipment then you will want to use a form to aerate the field. Use sand on the damaged areas of the pitch and try to level off the field as best as you can with chain Harrow (this will help with the grass seed).
Place the grass seed on the pitch and roll the pitch, the water. This will help the grass grow. The key to keeping a good pitch in the off season is through watering the pitch during the dry spells. When the grass is grown make sure to trim it down regularly.
Start of the season
Ensure that damage to a rugby pitch is repaired when damage appears after the first few games of the season. This may mean resending damaged areas in the first few weeks of the rugby season.
Mid season
Depending where you are in the world, in th UK the mid season means rain and poorer weather conditions. It is important for the grounds man to aerorate the pitch as often as possible to ensure that all water is dispersed from the pitch. You won’t be cutting the grass during the mid season.
Back end of the season
In rest weeks and away games, the pitch should be sewn with grass seed to try and repair the damage that was caused to the pitch during the mid season.https://www.youtube.com/embed/UtT7sZvTwPE
Rugby Pitch Grass Lengths during the season
The length you cut your grass will vary throughout the season. We have listed the desired lengths of grass during the season below:
| Length of Grass | Time in the Season |
| Off Season | 50-65mm |
| Start of Season | 45-55mm |
| Mid Season | N/A |
| End of Season | 45-55mm |
Support on Maintenance of a rugby pitch
Not every club is lucky enough to have a groundsman to maintain their rugby pitch for them. The first thing that a volunteer should do is speak with other clubs to understand how to repair s rugby pitch, mark a rugby pitch and maintain a pitch. It would be a good community idea for rugby clubs to help each other.
If there are no other local rugby clubs to give advice then there is Rugby Groundsman Connected which is a network thst enables a volunteer to speak with the Rugby Football Union who will offer advice to the groundsman. This can even involve a visit from Keith Kent who is the groundsman at Twickenham. Through the netowork groundsman canget special offers and discounts for equipment to maintain your rugby pitch.
Anyone can join the network by emailing groundsmenconnected@rfu.com . Follow Keith Kent on Twitter and pick up his hints and tips on his feed.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfX0%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1135106484520607744&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Frugbyclubdevelopment.com%2Frugby-pitch-maintenance-markings-dimensions-and-funding%2F&sessionId=505fa1abd10fa902ae1825e526cd64b061e14027&theme=light&widgetsVersion=c8fe9736dd6fb%3A1649830956492&width=550px
Dimensons and Markings on a Rugby Pitch
The markings on a pitch must be made in white and it is important to keep the white lines as straight as possible. The following markings and dimensions should be followed:
The Pitch – The pitch should be 100 meters long by seventy meters wide. It is always important to check your league rules before applying the paint.
Goal Line – The Goal Line should be a solid white line marked at 22 meters from the dead ball line.
Five meter line – should be a dashed line five meters from the goal line and parallel to the goal line.
22 meter line – 22 meters from the goal line should be a solid white line known as the 22 meter line.
10 meter line – is a dashed line that runs parallel either side of the halfway line.
Funding of a Rugby Pitch
Your rugby club may needign additional funding in order to maintain the rugby pitch. There are a number of routes that a rugby club can decicde to take to obtain money for your rugby club. In the UK a rugby club can apply for a grant of up to £5,000 through a Groundsmatch Grant. However, the money which is issued under this grant has to be matched by the rugby club. This can be through the club, supporters or sponsors. The following link takes you to the Rugby Football Foundation where forms for grants can be found.
Englanf rugby also offers deals on goal posts, a tractor with a match prepaartion kit and a full range of maintenance.
There is also technical guidance supplied in how to design you rugby pitch.