Traditionally sport has been played on natural grass surfaces. But with rapid innovations, Synthetic turf/artificial turf is being embraced world over even here in Uganda.
A decade ago, it was only Lugogo Arena that had an artificial turf but as we compile this article over 10 arenas are operational in Kampala and Wakiso only. The most notable arenas with artificial turf are; Phillip Omondi Stadium, St Mary’s Kitende, and Fufa Technical Center in Njeru.
For starters, Synthetic turf was first invented in the mid-1960s in America. It originally came into existence in the marketplace to replace natural grass that had difficulty growing in indoor stadiums. The Houston Astrodome was the world’s first fully enclosed stadium with a synthetic turf field. This field was not much more than green plastic indoor-outdoor carpet, however, it was praised for its visual appeal and playability and as a result, synthetic turf fields were soon under construction across the world.
Back in Uganda, Artificial Indoor Arenas are becoming the new lucrative business, especially in urban areas.
The emergence of these fields is exceptionally rapid as almost every ‘cool’ Kampala suburb has an indoor Arena. Kyambogo area has Kampala Futsal Arena, Kisenyi has Kisenyi arena, Bugolobi has Fast Sports Fusion arena, Mengo has Old Kampala Sports Arena while Munyonyo has Bayern Arena. Najjera, Kira, and Kyebando also have such facilities.
These arenas have become too attractive for residents hence also becoming profitable for owners.
This website spoke to Saddam Matovu, the Old Kampala Sports Arena director and he said the proximity of the facilities has been key to attracting clients.
“Like our facility can be accessed at any time of the day as we have floodlights for those that come in the night,” he said.
Most of the arenas Matooke Republic reached out to offer playing fields for most common sports disciplines like football, tennis, and basketball among other sports. They have maintained locker rooms with a bar and restaurant. Some also offer recreation centers for the kids.
Cissy Jawe, the operations manager at Kampala FUT5AL Arena said that setting up such a facility costs around Shs1 billion and the playing carpet is the most expensive.
“The carpet costs $3-$11 per meter depending on the quality,” she said.
Cissy further revealed that the business mostly gained momentum during the lockdown as people needed a sport to kill boredom and also keep fit.
On why artificial turfs are the new ‘big thing’, she said they have playable surfaces and it’s hard to get injuries while playing on them.
According to several managers this website talked to, they charge Shs100k for each team per hour and a day they get an average of 20 teams though on weekends they can entertain more than 30 teams.
Maintenance of the turf
It is often widely believed that synthetic turf fields require less ongoing maintenance than natural grass. Even though they do not require watering and mowing they do have an extensive maintenance protocol, particularly if used regularly for a multitude of sports events or for elite-level sports.
Such maintenance is critical if the surface is to achieve its optimum performance and full lifespan. According to Cissy, usually, the installer’s guarantee is conditional on the recommended maintenance requirements being carried out.
She said maintenance practices differ depending on the type of synthetic turf surface installed and it is important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and guidelines.