Playing rugby with your mates in the backyard is one thing, but creating a competitive field is a whole different story. If you were thinking of constructing a real rugby pitch in the place where you live, then we have to inform you that it is not mission impossible. Rugby is a very popular sport, so there are a lot of companies that produce sporting equipment, so you will have no trouble finding support in this segment.
Now, there are other prerequisites for this project, but if you know what they are and how to handle them, then your dream of playing rugby on a professional field might just become reality. The million dollar question (hopefully not that much) is how much will it all cost? Well, entire stadiums, no matter how small they are, cannot be ordered online so different aspects of them have different prices.
We have broken down the cost and present you with all the things you will have to pay for.
Location
Rugby fields are not small in size. They range from 112 meters in length and 68 meters in width, which means that you will have to find a sizable grassy surface. The option is to avoid paying for it. Buying a property is definitely out of the question and renting one could prove to be too costly. What you can do is check with the municipal authorities to let you use communal ground since the field will be used by everyone.
As an alternative, you can ask one of the locals to let you build a field on their property. Also, you can solicit the help of a local professional club, as they always support initiatives by amateurs clubs. They see it as a chance to popularize the sport. Who knows, perhaps they know of the ideal location for the field you have set your mind on building.
The grass
Once you decide on the location, you have to inspect the condition of the grassy surface on it. Even if this condition is excellent, rugby is a sport that is merciless toward the field it is played on. Scrums, in particular, tear up entire turfs, so the field soon looks like a mud pool, rather than a sports ground. Since you don’t have the necessary funds for the upkeep of a natural grass field, the alternative is to use artificial grass.
The sports industry is quite developed nowadays, so you will have no trouble finding companies that specialize in this kind of service. Admittingly, synthetic turf is rather expensive to install and it can cost up to 10.000 dollars for an average-sized field, but you can always find sponsors to cover this cost, or get subsidies from rugby associations.
Lighting
Once complete, your field is unlikely to host the Six Nations Championship, but there are still going to be games played at dusk or at night time. That is why you need to install lighting on your pitch. The current trend is LED sport lighting that has numerous advantages to the conventional halides one. Not only does LED lighting use 40% less energy, but it requires significantly less maintenance because it is controlled through a simple app. By going digital, you won’t need to wait tens of minutes for the light to go on, as LEDs turn on in an instant.
Fences
Once the field is complete, you are going to need fencing around it. This is done for the safety of both the passers-by and the athletes. The fence itself needn’t be too high; a meter is more than enough, just to establish a perimeter. It can be either made from steel or it can be more stylish, made from wood and painted white.
Stands
The games that will be played at your new rugby field are bound to draw in a crowd. Unless you want them to be leaning against the low fence, you should introduce some kind of stands. These can be commissioned from the local carpenter and they don’t have to be large, four levels are more than enough. If you don’t want to overspend, then another possibility is to rent mobile stands for match day. This way you get good quality stands for a bargain price because you use them for only a couple of hours.
Goals
No game of rugby would be possible without the egg-shaped ball and goal posts. The former is available at any sports store, while the latter will require a bit or research. This is not because of a significant difference in quality, but because of the differences in size of the goals depending on her age of the players and the level of competition. For instance, the height of the goal posts can range from 6 meters to 15 meters, depending on whether you play mini, junior, senior, state or national rugby. The 9 meter standard for seniors is perhaps the size you are looking for and it will cost you around 1.500 dollars to buy this type of goal posts.
Finally, when we add all these costs together, the total would be in the range from 800.000 to 1.000.000 dollars. This number sounds a lot, but it does include all costs, such as maintenance, and as mentioned before, there might be a good chance that you needn’t provide all this money yourself.
Author’s Bio: Liam Smith is a young and aspiring Australian blogger with a passion for everything related to home improvement, design and style. He has a B.Sc. in Interior design and is an avid reader.
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