Simon Armitage said the “game-changing funding” would benefit “local and wider communities”. [BBC]
Community football and rugby clubs in West Yorkshire plagued by wet pitches have been awarded £1.2 million for an all-weather pitch.
East Bierley Community Sports Association received the money after 14 years of campaigning.
The grant was awarded by the Premier League, the FA and the government's Football Foundation.
Simon Armitage, a trustee at East Bierley, said the space would be “game-changing” for hundreds of young people.
“When we started the project we were told we would be lucky if we had a few buckets next to the playing fields for washing,” he said.
“So I decided to do something about it and 14 years later the new 3G plans are going to be a game-changer.”
Parents of players said wet fields sometimes resulted in games having to be canceled for an entire month [BBC]
A team of parent volunteers' campaign to secure an artificial turf pitch for multi-sport use followed the cancellation of numerous games due to wet weather and muddy conditions.
Victoria Robinson, the parent of a child who plays for Gomersal Cleckheaton's under-12 team, said wet pitches often meant children didn't play for “a whole month”.
“They lose their momentum and that affects team development and their well-being because they want to play the sport they love,” she said.
Cassie Sykes said numerous games were canceled due to the heavy rains [BBC]
Cassie Sykes, the manager of the Birkenshaw Blue Dogs girls' team, said every time games were canceled 40 or more children “wouldn't be playing that weekend”.
She said: “Having the brand new pitch and knowing we are guaranteed to be able to play every single game will be absolutely fantastic for us.”
Work on the new pitch is due to begin in May and will hopefully be completed by October.
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