GOAL-WORTHY PITCH

Launched by EA SPORTS, the Sam Kerr football (soccer) pitch stands as part of its FC™ FUTURES program, an initiative that “meaningfully invests in community-level football through product innovation, community investment and partner initiatives across the foundations of football.”

Constructed at Auburn’s Police Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) centre in Auburn, New South Wales, the pitch is a celebration of Kerr as an icon for girls around the world. It provides a high-quality space with free access for youths to utilise in an area of need. Working in partnership with the Western Sydney Wanderers, the program will include coaching clinics and training camps run by Wanderers coaches and players. “It’s an honour to have a pitch inspired by and created in my name,” claims global ambassador Kerr.

The Sam Kerr pitch has also transcended the digital world. Football fanatics who are unable to visit the venue now have the opportunity to play on the exact pitch via the new EA Sports FC 24 video game.

Commissioned by Banter Group, Sportszone Group was tasked with the installation of the new state-of-the-art pitch. Due to time constraints, Sportszone Group recommended converting an existing court rather than building from scratch. A disused basketball court provided the perfect foundation.

Sportszone Group recommended Australian-made SYNLawn Coolplay artificial turf, manufactured by APT Asia Pacific, for the actual pitch. SYNLawn Coolplay offers 23mm texturised, non-directional artificial grass fibres with a heavy-duty hybrid emulsion backing for durability and longevity. Made using APT’s own Australian-made yarn, it also features exclusive Coolplus technology, which keeps the surface up to 20 percent cooler than other artificial turfs. All-weather, multipurpose SYNLawn Coolplay turf is available in 12 standard colours, however, APT Asia Pacific also offers colour customisation, which enabled them to deliver an exact colour match to the pitch featured in the EA SPORTS FC24 game.

The design of the pitch was a collaborative effort between Sam Kerr and the design agency Blood UTD. The pitch is bright, fun and different from the typical style football pitch, making it a unique and engaging experience for young players. Aside from its vibrant colours, the football pitch also features Sam Kerr’s name in the goal circles, along with a swan to represent her hometown of Perth, and the EA SPORTS logo. A 3.6-metre-high fence surrounds the field, with padding installed on the lower edges for added player protection.

Sportszone Group meticulously installed the pitch by first creating a CAD drawing of the design and then using a one-metre grid to mark out the design. After the design was plotted on the ground, a drone was used to take aerial photos to ensure the design was accurate, before installing the turf. All of the design features of the pitch were hand-cut by the team.

“The pitch production process was incredibly complex as we had to create an exact match of the in-game pitch. The turf was custom dyed to match the colours and then stitched together on site and we’re over the moon with the end result,” states Mitchell Loadsman, co-founder of Banter.

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PROJECT PARTICULARS
Client Electronic Arts (EA) Sports
Location Auburn, New South Wales
Brand Agency Banter Group
Pitch Design Blood UTD / Sam Kerr
Pitch Installation CBD Landscape Construction
Turf Manufacturer APT Asia Pacific