SC Zollikon President Andrea Roca

Home , Zollikon

According to the Swiss Football Association, the ideal number is 3-4 teams per grass pitch to allow the grass to be able to regenerate itself. In Zollikon it was 8 teams per pitch, which didn't allow the surface to regenerate properly.

Despite the high maintenance costs of 80000 CHF per year, the grass pitch could never su!ciently regenerate over the winter break which usually meant the closure of one of the pitches till April. Ideally, a well maintained grass pitch can be used for 600-700 playing hours per year, however, the Riet sports ground could only be used for just over 400 playing hours due to its poor drainage, age and surface. Therefore, the total yearly maintenance cost accumulated to 200 CHF/hour for the pitch, which was economically unsustainable" states SC Zollikon President Andrea Roca. With the installation of synthetic turf, several economical and social costs were quickly reduced for the good of the community and the club.

CASE STUDY Project

After a petition to the city to support the construction of an synthetic turf, the municipality vote of the December 9th 2009 decided clearly to proceed and paved the way for the plans to be implemented. ESTO Case Study: A credit of 2.8 Million CHF was granted for the construction of one full size pitch and one mini SC Zollikon pitch. On the October 2nd 2010 the pitch was rolled out on the Riet, with plenty of voluntary help from 60 players of the football club SC Zollikon, who helped to cut out the grass nodes, level the "oor and roll out the wire mesh. SC Zollikon is a community club based south of Zurich, Switzerland, which currently plays its football in the 4th After Swiss division. As the last community in the district of Meilen, Zollikon #nally has an synthetic playing surface Prior to the installation of the synthetic turf, the home ground of the club, "Sportanlage that allows the football club to provide its players and the community with a useful and Riet" used to consist of two full size grass pitches, as well as an over 20 year old synthetic suitable infrastructure. mini-turf surface. Even though the pitch has been in use only for a few months, the bene#ts for the club and Before community are already clearly visible. The synthetic turf allows much more use, with 3-4 times more training sessions being held than before, and the pitch can be used between 1200-1400 hours a year, a massive increase compared to the previous 400 hours with the grass pitch. Prior to the installation, SC Zollikon had 17 teams of which 13 were juniors, representing over 250 youths playing regularly. However the lack of facilities meant that training sessions were The main grass #eld can now live up to its full potential, particularly when the weather and pitch very limited due to the high amount of teams per pitch, and some of the junior teams even conditions are bad, as all of the senior teams' games can now be held on the synthetic turf. had to train on rented pitches in the neighbouring villages of Zumikon and Erlenbach. Additionally, the club had a waiting list of over 60 young people who could not take part in the club since 2001 due to the lack of facilities, which in turn limited the future growth potential of the club.

In addition, the "Grümpi" which is a Swiss annual traditional village cup tournament and one which used to destroy the pitch due to the usage of hundreds of players over an intensive period of three days, can now be held on the synthetic turf without causing problems for the club and community in the future.

The costs of the synthetic turf (including amortization of the material) will add up to 65 CHF per hour over 1200 hours annually, compared to the previous 200 CHF per hour of the grass pitch.

The community bene#ts are already clearly visible, as now anyone is allowed to use the pitch during the o!cial opening hours. Previously, the grass pitch was often closed for #eld maintenance and regeneration, but now youths can enjoy a sound infrastructure to play on, one which will bring the community regularly to the sports ground for recreational use.

“Several other municipalities in the region had installed such synthetic turfs and had experienced positive outcomes. In order for the SC Zollikon to reduce the waiting list of 60 youth players in order to drive youth development, these facilities for us were crucial. The change from natural to synthetic has cut costs for the municipality, because the maintenance is much lower and the durability is exponential compared to a grass !eld. Granted, the installation costs were high, but when considering that this needs to be done once every 50 years and the !eld needs to be replaced one or two times, its worth the investment” Andrea Roca ESTO Case Study: SC Zollikon

Project

A credit of 2.8 Million CHF was granted for the construction of one full size pitch and one mini pitch. On the October 2nd 2010 the pitch was rolled out on the Riet, with plenty of voluntary help from 60 players of the football club SC Zollikon, who helped to cut out the grass nodes, level the "oor and roll out the wire mesh.

After

As the last community in the district of Meilen, Zollikon #nally has an synthetic playing surface Prior to the installation of the synthetic turf, the home ground of the club, "Sportanlage that allows the football club to provide its players and the community with a useful and Riet" used to consist of two full size grass pitches, as well as an over 20 year old synthetic suitable infrastructure. mini-turf surface. Even though the pitch has been in use only for a few months, the bene#ts for the club and Before community are already clearly visible. The synthetic turf allows much more use, with 3-4 times more training sessions being held than before, and the pitch can be used between 1200-1400 hours a year, a massive increase compared to the previous 400 hours with the grass pitch. Prior to the installation, SC Zollikon had 17 teams of which 13 were juniors, representing over 250 youths playing regularly. However the lack of facilities meant that training sessions were The main grass #eld can now live up to its full potential, particularly when the weather and pitch very limited due to the high amount of teams per pitch, and some of the junior teams even conditions are bad, as all of the senior teams' games can now be held on the synthetic turf. had to train on rented pitches in the neighbouring villages of Zumikon and Erlenbach. Additionally, the club had a waiting list of over 60 young people who could not take part in the club since 2001 due to the lack of facilities, which in turn limited the future growth potential of the club. www.theESTO.com

The costs of the synthetic turf (including amortization of the material) will add up to 65 CHF per hour over 1200 hours annually, compared to the previous 200 CHF per hour of the grass pitch.

Project

After

ESTO Case Study: SC Zollikon

The costs of the synthetic turf (including amortization of the material) will add up to 65 CHF per hour over 1200 hours annually, compared to the previous 200 CHF per hour of the grass pitch.