Dubai: Sharjah Football Club supported the inauguration of American University Sharjah's new synthetic turf pitch on October 22. First team players Marcelo, Vandinho and Mohammad Taymoor were there to open the facility as part of the club and university's combined proactive stance on environmental awareness.
With recycling bins all around the stadium and training facilities already, Sharjah Club, hopes to become a leading sports entity on the adoption of green culture. With their ‘we care about the world we share' tagline it's hoped the club's diverse corporate responsibility and community engagement schemes will result in a greener, cleaner, healthier legacy for future generations.
The supported overhaul of American University Sharjah's grass pitches into synthetic turf has projected water savings of over 7.3 million litres a year, plus the electricity costs to pump that water through, according to Lee Mitchell, the director of wellness at the American University Sharjah, "this marks another step toward our goal of sustainability".
The synthetic turf is versatile, all weather, all year round, keeps its appearance, requires no water [whereas one pitch needs 20,000 litres a day] plus no electricity.
Sharjah Club has heralded Werder Bremen as their guiding force in all matters green. The Bundesliga club has installed photo-voltaic panels in their upgrade of their stadium as part of an agreement with SIG Solar. Jan Christian Schroder, managing director of SIG Solar called it: "A clear statement and principle on sustainable energy and environmental responsibility from the club."
‘Going green' is just one aspect of Sharjah's mass community engagement portfolio, which also focuses on improving the health and education, as well as lifestyle and future of its fan-base. Last week the club announced partnership with Bolton Wanderers Institute, which ethically backs up future players with the right qualifications to succeed outside sport if they don't make the grade.
