Back of the net – victory for campaign to access all-weather pitches
Bishopbriggs AC. Lenzie 1980 12th November 2011 Pic:Roberto Cavieres
A FLOOD-hit football club have won their fight to use an all-weather pitch at the weekend.
Coaches at Lenzie Youth Club have been campaigning for months to gain access to state-of-the-art astrograss pitches at local schools.
Now they have secured the use of a top-notch pitch at Bishopbriggs Academy every Saturday morning.
And hopes are high that Sunday games could also become a fixture at school astrograss pitches.
Bishopbriggs Academy’s 3G astro pitch is now being used on a Saturday morning by Lenzie Youth Club’s 1998s team, who were often hit by flooding at their previous park at Boghead.
Coach Karen Graham said: “It’s a relief to know that we have a pitch to play our home matches on.
“We are very grateful to Bishopbriggs Academy for allowing us to use their let.
“The frustrations with Boghead have been worse than ever this season. We’ve had a few mornings where we’ve had an on-off dilema while waiting for a referee to come along and inspect the pitch.
“Three times already this season it ended in disappointment when the referee had no option but to call off the fixture due to flooding.”
She added: “I think everyone involved in youth football believes there should be more investment in pitches and facilities.”
Lenzie Youth Club leader Ian Stevenson said they were “delighted” with the news.
It is hoped Soccer Sevens teams could also use the Bishopbriggs pitch this season and the 2000 age group next season.
In addition, the club have met with the council over the possible use of astro pitches on a Sunday and progress has been made.
Sandy McGarvey, the council’s head of community services, said: “We are pleased we have been able to work with Bishopbriggs Academy and the youth club to achieve this solution.
“Schools have the first option to use their facilities at the weekends and until recently Bishopbriggs Academy had indicated they needed to use this pitch on a Saturday morning.
“When this changed we were delighted to be able to agree a sessional school let with the youth club until the summer.”
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Weather for Kirkintilloch
Saturday 18 May 2013
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