ALMELO, THE NETHERLANDS--(Marketwire - Aug 9, 2012) - The new synthetic turf pitch of premier league club Heracles Almelo in the Polman Stadium in Almelo was delivered by main sponsor TenCate and its project partners on Monday, 9 July. It has now been approved by FIFA in line with the FIFA Two-Star standard for synthetic turf football pitches. The pitch is based on the patented 3D synthetic turf clumps technology from TenCate Grass and was installed in just a few weeks by Oranjewoud Realisatie, which was also responsible for the installation of the earlier synthetic turf pitches used by Heracles Almelo.

In the run-up to the new season, Heracles Almelo is training and playing on the latest synthetic turf innovation from TenCate Grass. This patented 3D synthetic turf clumps technology from TenCate ensures that the synthetic turf fibres remain even more firmly upright as clumps and that the pitch has a natural appearance. Players can get their feet under the ball more easily on this pitch. Ball speed and thus the speed of the game are significantly higher, resulting in optimal ball and playing performance.

Innovation and durability

Thanks to the system approach adopted byTenCate Grass and its design partners GreenFields, Trocellen, Oranjewoud Realisatie and J&E Sports, once again a balanced system of components has been combined and installed. The existing subbase in the Polman Stadium could be recycled in its entirety. Stabilizing geotextile from TenCate Geosynthetics was then placed on top of this. The sport foam layer from Trocellen and the woven synthetic turf pitch from TenCate Grass are recent innovations. After cleaning, the polyethylene infill too could be completely recycled. The synthetic turf was installed by J&E Sports using a durable seal method. At the end of its service life the entire synthetic turf pitch can be recycled, since all the components used, including the sealing, are made of the same material DNA. This approach fits in perfectly with the ambitions of Heracles Almelo as regards sustainability.

Perception of the pitch

The new pitch that has been installed at Heracles Almelo can no longer be distinguished from natural grass, not only in terms of its playing characteristics, but also thanks to its appearance and the way it feels to the touch. This is not only of importance for how the pitch is perceived during matches, but also for the presentation of league matches on TV: both by daylight and by artificial light the pitch looks natural.

This innovative synthetic turf system comprises a combination of TenCate Evolution™ and TenCate Trimension™ synthetic turf fibres. The system bears the name GreenFields MX™ and will be marketed exclusively by GreenFields of Genemuiden (NL), which recently delivered a similar synthetic turf system for PEC Zwolle.

TenCate Grass, GreenFields and Oranjewoud Realisatie

Almelo, The Netherlands, Thursday 9 August, 2012

Press release in PDF: http://hugin.info/130798/R/1632352/523587.pdf

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Source: Koninklijke Ten Cate NV via Thomson Reuters ONE

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