Over the past couple of decades, sports
teams and organisations have slowly warmed to the prospect of playing
on artificial surfaces. As the ‘grass’ used to make such pitches
has become more realistic and the surfaces smoother, some of the
world’s most famous stadia and football clubs have decided to shun
traditional pitches in favour of artificial ones with little
difference.
A grand scale
Until a few years ago, only a handful
of professional sports teams and sports centres had used artificial
turf, but there has been a gradual shift in opinion. Many training
grounds are using Desso synthetic turf to help players train
throughout the winter when snow might harm their schedule, but one
plot in a small French community has really taken it to their heart.
In Clamart, a 50,000 m² site at Stade
de la Plaine uses Desso Sports artificial grass throughout. On the
site, there are seven pitches – three for football, two for rugby
and two for multisport. Installed in the area’s municipal sports
park, they offer amateur sportspeople the chance to train all year
round, regardless of how bad the weather might be.
Sport for all
The surfaces at Clamart are renowned
across the local area. The public get to use all of them when they’re
not being used by local sports clubs. The use of artificial grass can
benefit any sports facility, especially if it needs all-weather
surfaces to help them save on costs such as maintenance, which makes
them handy for medium-sized football teams in particular.
Among the world-renowned sports clubs
using synthetic surfaces for training or at their main stadium
include MLS teams Colorado Rapids and Dallas FC, Portuguese champions
FC Porto, Real Madrid, English Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur
and Stoke City and PSV Eindhoven. All those teams are feeling the
benefit.
