When severe storms and flooding swept across Queensland in February 2022, the town of Gympie in Queensland’s south east was hit hard, losing many of its community facilities including its soccer pitch, which was so severely damaged it was deemed beyond repair.
But 24 months on, Gympie United Football Club’s finest is back on the field, with the club now boasting one of the best pitches in the state, laid with a world-class variety of turf.
The new field at the region’s One Mile Sporting Complex is the combined work of Gympie Regional Council, Gympie United Football, and TurfBreed and features the country’s first IronCutter Elite Hybrid Bermudagrass turf pitch.
The new, cutting-edge turf variety was brought to Australia by TurfBreed and was selected as the ideal turf for the pitch resurfacing.
Gympie United Football coach and fellow player Joel Albion is excited about the new opportunities the new world-class pitch, known as Field One, will provide.
“The new pitch will not only benefit players but also the town, as it has the potential to attract higher level games,” Joel said. “We hope it will be one of Southeast Queensland’s best pitches.
“The football will improve and we might even see that players will want to move to town and play here. It might even entice some bigger games, some NPL (National Premier Leagues) games, so a higher level, which could give our players exposure.”
Gympie Regional Council’s Property and Open Spaces Manager Ed French says the pitch is a significant redevelopment for the entire local community.
“The renewal of Field One symbolises a huge collaborative effort between council, contractors and Gympie United Football Club,” Ed said.
“The flooding events of 2022 greatly impacted our community and the works completed at the One Mile Sporting Complex is just another step in our recovery efforts.
“We believe this grass is pretty special, it’s the first time it has been used on a competition field in Australia.”
With less thatch build-up than many turf varieties, the IronCutter Elite Hybrid Bermudagrass field will require less maintenance and will withstand the wear and tear of a well-loved community soccer pitch.
IronCutter Elite Hybrid Bermudagrass’s dense, fine, vertical leaf creates a less spongy surface, resulting in quicker play and ultimately reducing player fatigue.
TurfBreed’s Turf Manager Nathan Tovey is proud to have been a part of the community project “It was such an honour to be able to provide this town with a world-class pitch, to not only help them with their recovery efforts but provide a legacy for years to come,” Nathan said.
“IronCutter was such a great choice for this project with its beautiful deep green colour, lower need for fertiliser and low thatching. This is a turf with exceptionally low input cost and at the same time very high reward.”
The project was funded by the Australian Government and the Queensland Government through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
For more information on IronCutter visit the TurfBreed website