With snow expected in some parts of the country this week, we thought it worth sharing some of the advice from the Grounds Management Association regarding dealing with snow on your football pitches. 

Snow clearance is extremely labour intensive and heavy snow falls are very difficult to deal with particularly at a grassroots level. However, some measures can be taken depending on your equipment and workforce.

• Light snow may be cleared by simple methods such as dragging heavy ropes over the surface in a similar way to removing dew. Heavy duty plastic snow shovels, drag brushes and mats can be used to good effect. Handheld air blowers are also an option. Larger mechanical equipment should be avoided where possible particularly if the ground is thawed below as it may damage the soil and churn up the turf, however frozen surfaces may also become heavily bruised as explained.

• Larger snow falls require significant workforce and time to remove and where the financial impact is limited whilst postponements or cancelations are never desirable this may be a more viable option. Sometimes there is no beating mother nature!

• It is often a good idea to mark a pitch in a different colour (sky blue or red are fairly typical) if snow is expected during a fixture.

• If you maintain an artificial surface please consult the manufacturers guidance on snow clearance, 3G pitch infills are easily displaced during snow removal and costly to replace or re-disperse.

For more support on maintaining your football pitches, why not join the Hive Groundskeeping Community which features various seasonal tips including dealing with snow and gives you the opportunity for peer-to-peer support with other groundskeepers around the county.

Just visit footballfoundation.hivelearning.com and search for the Kent group when you’ve logged in.

Contact Aidan.Ainsley@KentFA.com for more information.