There’s an overwhelming ‘onwards and upwards’ spirit overarching operations at Sixways Stadium, home of the Worcester Warriors.
The positivity of the club spirit has been matched by investment in the facilities, with a pair of machines from Redexim’s award-winning artificial portfolio joining the armoury of Head Groundsman Jeff Green.
The club has endured a challenging few years but continues to offer a Sports Stadia for all. Sixways Stadium is home to various RFU events as well as local and community sports, including being home to two local football clubs utilising the pitches and training facilities at Sixways for fixtures.
Across the two sites are two grass pitches, one full-size 3G pitch, one smaller 3G pitch at the indoor training centre and a further 3G pitch at the main stadium, uniquely installed with GEO X-TRE 60 infill from Limonta Sport.
The conversion of the surfaces from rugby to football, along with the new infill material which includes sustainable coconut fibres, sparked the recent purchase of a Speed-Clean 1700 and Base-Rake from Redexim.
“I’ve known Redexim for a good few years, and offered to host one of their recent synthetic training events in conjunction with our local dealer Tallis Amos Group (TAG)” Jeff explains. “I couldn’t believe how effective all of the range was on our stadium pitch, but in particular how the Speed-Clean loosened up the infill and removed a staggering amount of debris from the depths of the pile. The club saw straight away what a difference investing in this pairing would make in our efforts to elevate the stadium pitch to the next level.”
The Redexim Speed-Clean is a land-driven sweeper that effectively lifts and separates infill from contaminants in a single pass. At 1.7m wide, it is wider than the club’s previous sweeper, presenting a significant time saving in enhancing surface cleanliness and safety. “Another factor that impressed us was the sympathetic way in which the Speed-Clean operated. Our pitch is eight years old so we need to balance its maintenance requirements with not being too aggressive.”
Jeff is utilising the Speed-Clean on a weekly basis and has seen a dramatic decrease in both compaction and the amount of contaminants being collected. When conditions allow, the weekly work with the Speed-Clean will be complemented with a pass of the Redexim Base-Rake after every 10 hours of play.
“As the only pitch in the country using the Geo infill for top flight Rugby, it acts differently and needs different treatment” Jeff adds, “It’s been brilliant working together with Redexim’s Paul Thomas and Colin McIntyre from TAG as we all look ahead positively – whether that’s, for us, the return of Worcester Warriors or Redexim who are clearly working hard to deliver maintenance solutions that are fit for the synthetic surfaces of the future.”
