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First Cruyff court in Liverpool installed with TenCate Ecocept™

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GreenFields and the Cruijff Foundation are proud to announce the official opening of the new court in Anfield-Liverpool. The new court is part of a £260 million regeneration of Anfield, courtesy of funding partners Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Football Club and Your Housing Group, working together to improve housing and sporting facilities in the area. There are currently only two existing Courts in the UK, both of which reside in London: Cruyff Court Dennis Bergkamp and Cruyff Court Tottenham Hotspur – the Anfield Sports and Community Centre Cruyff Court will be the first outside of the UK’s capital, and the first which GreenFields have installed.

This particular Cruyff court is very special as it is the first court where the new TenCate Ecocept™ performance sports base is used. TenCate Ecocept™ is a new innovative sports base specifically developed for synthetic turf athletic playing surfaces. Is integrates seamlessly with the synthetic turf product. This product is a new sports base which utilises a 50/50 mix of recycled rubber and plastic, and saves roughly 140 tonnes of materials from landfill for every full size pitch. This system gives an improved shock absorbency for players, due to the stability of the base, and provides several functions in a single layer.

In the meanwhile the Cruyff Foundation, founded in 2003, has installed more than worldwide – including Argentina, South Africa, and Brazil. The foundation supports various projects that encourage young people to exercise in a safe environment.

Hatko installs second FIFA two star artificial grass pitch with TenCate Grass fibres

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Early may 2015, Hatko installed a second FIFA** pitch in Cyprus using TenCate Grass artificial grass fibres as its base. The pitch is located in Gazimağusa, a town on the country’s east coast, and measures 106 by 76 meters. It is named after the Turkish-Cypriot politician, Rauf Denktaş, who passed away in 2012.

Hatko Dokuma Tekstil insaat Taahhut Ve Ticaret Ltd Sti. is TenCate Grass’ partner in Turkey. The customer opted for the Omega Turf – Hatko’s top of the range pitch. TenCate Grass Middle East Ltd. engineered and produced the synthetic turf fibres within the space of a single week. The entire installation process took just three weeks to complete.

According to Hatko, the Omega Turf is renowned for its unique, curved shape and three ‘spines’, which create a bouncy grass fibre offering excellent flexibility and durability. Testing and analysis performed by Hatko engineers showed that the system’s durability remained uncompromised after as many as 40,000 Lisport Test cycles.

Hatko Sports has been using TenCate synthetic grass yarns for a number of years. The company has successfully completed many sports and landscaping projects throughout Turkey and the Middle East using TenCate technology.

ESTO CONGRESS 2014 – ISTANBUL, TURKEY

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Great content, great networking and great energy were some of the key characteristics of the 2014 ESTO Congress in Istanbul.

One of the major developments in ESTO recently has been the engagement of football associations which some have already joined the ESTO membership. Turkish Football Federation, Norway Football Association, Scotland Football Association, LND/Italian Football Association were all in attendance. This will continue to be a focus for ESTO engaging with football associations. Nigel Fletcher, Executive Chairman commented: “ESTO strategy from 2010 was to be a knowledge hub and neutral platform to discuss, debate and raise standards in synthetic turf. With numerous publications being produced constantly and EDUCATION the core driver of the organisation – more football associations and organisations are seeing ESTO as the neutral and independent platform for all matters synthetic turf”.

Synthetic Turf as a driver of community engagement and developing a football club were certainly the key conclusions from Oliver Ash, Chairman Maidstone United and Cammy Watt from the Scottish Football Association. An insight into the rapid development and progression of synthetic turf in Turkey was presented by the Turkish Football Association. Again highlighting that synthetic turf is a core driver in the development strategy in football.

A new technical set up was announced where the ESTO Technical Committee will combine with football associations and international governing bodies to ensure effectiveness and dialogue in the development of standards. Furthermore a range of new working groups have set up. This now includes:

Shockpads (Chairman: Frenk Stoop)

Infill (Chairman: Daniel Shockmann)

Maintenance (Chairman: Alex Bobieca)

Installers (Chairman: Wijnand Hendriks)

Recycling (Chairman: Peter Mackay)

Yarn Technical (Chairman: Frans Harmeling)

In addition an exclusive Turf and Yarn manufacturers – Business Directors Club will be initiated under the chairmanship of Bryn Lee.

The governing board of ESTO has also changed and this now has representatives from the supply chain. Again a positive step forwards in the development of synthetic turf. In addition Bryn Lee (Bonar Yarns) and Piet Tytgat (Recticel) were announced as Vice-Presidents of ESTO.

The 2014 ESTO Congress networking evening took place on the river bosphorus with drinks and dinner. This is also where the ESTO Football Awards were presented. Nigel Fletcher, Executive Chairman commented: “The goal of the ESTO Football Awards is to raise the profile of synthetic turf and the positive impact it has in developing football at community and at professional level” The ESTO Football Awards winners were:

ESTO Community Award: Project Victor – Lano Sports and the Czech Association of Synthetic Turf Football Pitch Manufacturers

ESTO Professional Club Award: Hamilton Academical Football Club – TigerTurf

ESTO Professional Club Award: Maidstone United Football Club – FieldTurf

ESTO Professional Club Award: FC Lorient – Polytan

Read more on why they were winners

Planning ahead for 2015. Three key dates were announced

January 29th – Kick Off meeting 2015 which will include working groups, networking, drinks and dinner. This will take place at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam.

September 15th – 16th – ESTO Congress 2015 will be held in Rome, Italy. Starting at 1pm on September 15th and finishing 11am the following day.

October 28th – The Big Networking party + ESTO Awards – Bringing the Synthetic Turf Industry together. Cologne, Germany. From 7pm

Destination Istanbul for ESTO CONGRESS

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The ESTO Congress will take place June 5th in Istanbul, Turkey. Commenting on the programme: Nigel Fletcher, Executive Chairman said : ”Again we have a diverse and enriching conference programme. The content is a mixture of what ESTO has achieved, plans for the future, latest developments in the working groups. In addition some important presentations from the Italian FA (LND), French FA, Scotland FA. This again shows the strategy of working closely together with football associations in the development and acceptance of synthetic turf. It is also great to have major representation from the Turkish Football Federation. The ESTO Congress will have a different component this year where an ESTO Turkish forum will be integrated in the afternoon sessions which will bring together local suppliers, contractors and clubs. Other important key presentations will occur from Oliver Ash, director of Maidstone United who are certainly flying the flag for the return of synthetic turf football in England, representations of CIRFS in Brussels, the Institute of Groundsman with CEO, Geoff Webb focussing on maintenance, Robin Russell on the market report and vision 2020 update. The ESTO Congress will finish with the ESTO Football Awards rewarding members and clubs for best practice in the football industry”.

Previous ESTO Congresses have taken place in Prague (2010), Lausanne (2011), Brussels (2012) and Liverpool (2013). The next ESTO Congress (2015) will take place September 15-16 in the Italian capital city, Rome. There will be close collaboration with the Italian FA (LND) in organising and implementing the 2015 Congress.

Should your city/country be interested in hosting a future ESTO Congress – please contact ESTO HQ at info@theesto.com 

ProPlay base on first artificial ski slope in Turkey

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Recently, the official opening of the very first ‘all seasons’ artificial ski slope in Turkey took place. This ski project is situated in a new ski resort in the city of Gaziantep. Especially for this project, Schmitz Foam Products developed the high-quality ProPlay-Ski shock pad.

Prisme Events has worked in collaboration with the team from the city of Gaziantep to bring life to this huge 10,000 m² (107,640 sqft) ski project in total. The ski slopes, situated at an altitude of 800 meter, will be operational all the year round without any snow-blower or cold energy, thanks to the AstroTurf Snow Sports Surface.

The Erikse Gaziantep resort includes 2 expert slopes of 200 m and 240 m long with 3 different levels of difficulty. It also includes a ski school of 800 m², a beginners slope and a tubing area. On site, there is also a rope course as well as an artificial lake and all necessary amenities such as changing rooms, panoramic restaurant and bar.

To see the YouTube video use the following link.

Source: astroturfsnow.com

ESTO Congress in Istanbul, Turkey

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You can now register for the 5th ESTO Congress in Istanbul, Turkey on June 5 2014. The Early Offer is available until end of April. For further information please contact info@theesto.com

Synthetic Turf in Turkey

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There has been a negative reputation of synthetic turf in Turkey, caused by pre existing biases instead of rationalities. Synthetic turf had to be understood as alternative to natural turf instead of a substitute. The introduction of the FIFA ‘Quality Concept for Football Turf’ helped to gain support for synthetic turf and now synthetic turf in Turkey is on the forefront.

FIFA today lists 247 installations of synthetic turf in Turkey as part of their recommended pitches. Synthetic pitches have among others been installed in Ankara, Antalya, Istanbul and Izmir. At least two clubs of the Turkish Women’s First Football League (out of 10) do today play their games on artificial turf, including Ataşehir Belediyespor, the club that won the Championship for two consecutive times and did participate in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.