If Breedijk is along the line on Saturday, he does not only look at the game. His eyes are mainly focused on the grass. Isn’t it too wet? Do the blades have the right length? Is the field nice and smooth?
When the slices fly out of the turf to a defensive tackle, he sometimes thinks ‘Pots destroyed, there, my grass goes’.
On Monday it is up to the maintenance committee to repair the damage. With an iron roll, a Loeizeware device, Breedijk and his colleague smooth the competition field again, especially to get that upper layer neatly again after a hard -fought amateur match. They fill large holes with some extra sand from a bucket.
Worms in the football field
What exactly went wrong last weekend on the field of Fortuna Sittard, Breedijk could not see on television at Studio Sport so quickly. But the fact that players slide time and time again can come according to the grass master by a field that is ‘too fat’ or ‘too wet’.
At HBOK they know how important a good field is. The club is just outside Zunderdorp, on the peat soil of Waterland, with a ditch on two sides. When Breedijk played football for the club years ago, the field was often so soggy that matches were regularly canceled.
In the meantime, the field is much better. This is mainly due to the new drainage system, Breedijk explains. Under the field are pipes that drain the water. Ten years ago they built twice as many pipes, so that the water now runs away much faster.
Maintenance
According to De Grasmeester, a healthy football field can be recognized by ‘worm heaps’, the poop of worms. The worms dig corridors in the ground, making the water flows down easily. But too many worms is not good either, because then the field will be ‘too fat’ again.
The grass is fertilized twice a year by the farmer who lives next to the club. Weed control is covered by the maintenance committee. Gif no longer uses the club, so everything goes by hand. “A mess.”
According to Breedijk, mowing is perhaps the most important thing. He starts with that in June, about two to three times a week. With his discusmower, he has the field within an hour at an ideal length of two to three centimeters. “If the field looks good, the trainer calls it an Olympic field.”
Clogs
HBOK is a special club, says De Grasmeester. Even though the village has around 460 inhabitants, the number of members is still growing. “At every home game, the opponents receive a few clogs with HBOK on it.”
And then, the most exciting moment of the year: the inspection. A special committee comes to check the grass by having the ball roll over the field. It must then cover exactly a certain distance. “If all goes well, I will give myself a pat on the back.”