Eredivisie clubs will monitor the quality of their fields with special equipment. According to interest group Eredivisie CV, the competition is the first worldwide to take this step. With this new form of data-driven grass management, Dutch professional football wants to play a pioneering role in the global football world.
The equipment called HiPSter measures eight quality aspects of the pitches, including hardness, ball bounce, ball roll and grip. Field managers of the clubs with a natural grass field can view the condition of the field at any time of the day.
Consulting the equipment is in addition to the independent inspections that take place three times a year. The step stems from the ‘Change Agenda’. According to the Eredivisie CV, “more and more Eredivisie clubs have switched from synthetic turf to natural grass by encouraging playing on a high-quality natural grass pitch”.
Source: ANP
