NEW FENCE CAUSES NEW PITCH LAYOUT; New more secure fence, introduces a new pitch layout.

Part way through the 2015 season Dovery Down school installed a new 6 foot high metal fence as an additional security precaution to protect the school property, staff and pupils.

This new fence - the big green one, you can't miss it! - was situated on the edge of the gravel area at the top end of the fields (where people normally park cars etc although I am reliably informed that this is in fact not an official car park!). The fence augments the wooden barriers on the boundary between the fields and the gravel area and includes a new gate on the path.

Anyway, the placement of this new fence fell within the original football pitch markings - effectively removing a 1.5 metre wide strip of field from play and preventing it from being used. Upon reviewing the situation, the club - in agreement with the school caretaker - decided to re-orientate the pitches so that instead of having the longest edges running parallel to the short edges of the fields, they are now rotated so thet they longest endges run parallel with the long edges of the fields.

Basically we turned the pitches through a 90 degree rotation to give us the full playing surface without removing pitch area away from the reception pitch located closest to Acorns Pre-School. We tested this new layout during out 2015 summar tournament and it seemed to have worked well in terms of playing area, however, parents and visitors should note that due to the new orientation you may now have to stand in a different area to watch yoru children during training and matches.

We will continue with this new layout for the forseeable future.

#pitches #layout #lines #fields