While temperatures have returned to acceptable values in recent months, the drought continues to cause its share of disruptions. Amateur football and rugby clubs, for example, find themselves faced with impassable pitches due to the lack of rain and the watering ban which affected a very large number of municipalities, during a period of water restrictions. .
Hands on hips and staring at these two football pitches yellowed by the sun, Yves, the president of FC Pays de Neubourg, sees the damage. “There, it’s dry, dry, dry, so we suffer. When there is a lot of heat and high temperatures, it burns the green space of the pitch and that’s where it’s a problem”.
“As if we were running on concrete”
Problems, in particular for the safety and health of the players, explains Carole, trainer: “In fact, it’s as if we were running on concrete and at the level of the calves, at the level of the ankles, they are not the same supports As the ground is hard, it also heats up below, at the level of the soles of the feet and it creates blisters”.
Club training will resume in a few days, which worries Yves. With two out of three pitches unusable, it is difficult to maintain normal operation. “We have close to 400 licensees so if we have to not train on the two grass pitches that we have here, it will cause us big problems in terms of occupancy for the slots in each category. “.
If the rain does not arrive in the coming days, dozens of licensees could find themselves deprived of lessons. So, to limit damage, the football club plans, for example, to relocate training to the field of a neighboring town.