Getting the venues right is paramount for a sport aspiring to global popularity and becoming more than a kickabout in the sand. Beach soccer is indeed a great spectator sport, fun, and is where most people traditionally had their first kick of a ball. It is more exciting to watch and people get sucked into that whole beach culture it presents.
Constructing pitches for the sand-bound version of the beautiful game is a rapidly growing industry and this increase is being seen at places not always associated with natural beaches successfully taking up the game like landlocked countries Switzerland, Paraguay and Belarus which have repeatedly featured for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups. It is a fact that some countries know they are never going to win the World Cup but could win at beach soccer.
Today, a high percentage of beach soccer stadiums are temporary, but key to moving the sport forward and the introduction of FIFA stadium guidelines, it should move beyond the beach shores for a more permanent location.
Here, are five steps to constructing an artificial beach soccer pitch.
1 – Identify a suitable location and define your beach soccer pitch area, including the play zone and at least a two-meter off-pitch boundary around the play zone. Remember, the pitch size depends on your available space, even though regulation size measures between 35 to 37 meters and 26 to 28 meters.
2- Removing the topsoil of the defined area, most builders aspire to create a level surface with the sub-base of the pitch area generally sloped to help with the drainage. This is essential in case of rain. BSWW advises using perforated PVC pipes covered with permeable fabric inside gravel-covered ducts and covered again with another layer of permeable fabric. You don’t wanna have a waterlogged pitch.
*Please note, as all these activities go on, arrangements for sand most have been sorted. To build a beach soccer stadium outside of a beach in the middle of a street or square, you need about 800 tonnes of sand, not just any sand, and certainly not the type used in general construction. Grains must be between 0.2mm and 0.3mm in diameter and are generally sourced from beaches and desert dunes. If this is not possible, a near-perfect fit can be sourced.
3 – Assuming topsoil is removed, sub-drain perforated pipes are installed to slope, sand is delivered sieved and free of pebbles, and a sand pitch is then laid to a depth of at least 40 centimetres. A wood or brick retention box should be installed to prevent sand loss and a mesh fence installed to prevent animals from fouling the pitch.
4 – Pitch equipment and accessories. The Goal Post 5×2.2 meters can be locally fabricated, otherwise, a standard one can be ordered from BSWW equipment partners. Pitch Boundary Lines are blue Geo-textile materials, so you could use a fireman water hose, yes it’s blue too. A roll and a half would just be perfect for your standard pitch… Just like mine …
Although the corner flags are special PVC flag poles mounted on flexible rubber base which is buried in the soil to allow for free pole swings. A traditional hollow PVC round pipe of about 1.2 meters in height could just be stuck into the soil with your red and yellow fabric flags at the tip.
5 – Get the balls, invite your friends and let the game begin!
