Preparing for the new Rugby Union season

With June a matter of days away and the new Rugby Union season starting in 3 months’ time, here in the Kestrel offices we are acutely aware of how fast time goes, especially over the summer.  

With that in mind, now is the time to think about preparing your pitch for the new season. Let’s look at what that means, and what you should be considering. 

The end of the season means a thorough renovation 

With your pitch having a break, the summer is the perfect opportunity for an in-depth analysis of how your pitch has fared over the past year. This means understanding its overall health and adjusting your renovations accordingly to suit its needs and bringing it back to tip top condition.

With the review complete, you can undertake the necessary actions like scarification,  overseeding, aeration, and topdressing to help it. Each process is designed to ensure your pitch can recover, while at the same time providing the nutrients, water, and airflow needed. With overseeding you will be supplementing the existing grass to ensure complete, thick coverage.

Ongoing maintenance

As with all pitch maintenance, once your renovation is complete you will need to perform ongoing maintenance during the summer months. Included in this will be regular pitch mowing and watering. 

But you’ll also need to do continual inspections of the pitch. This will ensure that should any hazards appear, whether holes or debris that could cause injuries are dealt with swiftly. It will also enable you to keep a close eye on the pitch, ensuring pests and diseases are quickly apprehended as well. 

The final steps

At this point the new season will be quickly approaching, so you will need to do the final dressing of the pitch. In short, it’s about ensuring you mark out the boundaries, including the in-goal, perimeter or run-offs are set to the official specifications, using approved paints for the process. Also, don’t forget that the posts and flags are in suitable condition.

Before you know it

The start of the new Rugby Union season has a habit of quickly creeping up on us. That’s why we, at Kestrel, understand the necessity of meticulous planning and craft a comprehensive summer maintenance plan for all our customers. But we don’t stop there, as this bespoke plan serves as the cornerstone to our year-round commitment, guaranteeing your pitch remains in optimal condition from the inaugural whistle to the final match of the season. 

If you need a hand with your summer maintenance plans or a more in-depth year-round approach, drop us a line and we’ll be happy to pop along and talk through your pitch requirements to ensure it is ready for the 2024/25 season.