Because we now have both PIA and the Headstart School pitch available to us for football practice, our options have never been better. Of course, nothing is perfect, so I wanted to make a few points …
Headstart School Pitch
Unfortunately, this pitch hasn’t kept as high standard as we were initially hoping for. The drainage isn’t working very well, the grass is mediocre and it’s a bit bumpy. The School is still trying to improve it, but you can’t just wave a magic wand at it obviously. Because it is now the rainy season, and because this pitch doesn’t drain very well, we can only play on this pitch when it is relatively dry. This means that we have to consider this pitch on a day-by-day basis – Normally, we are playing on this pitch on Saturdays at 16.00, but if it has been raining on Friday and/or Saturday, we may need to move the session to a Sunday (or any other day for that sake!). An option through the rainy season until September at least, is that we can use the PIA pitch as a fallback on Saturdays if it has been raining a lot …
The original concept for this pitch was that we were gonna be able to play on it more than once a week, but at least for now through the rainy season, that will not be an option. The advantage of this pitch, is that it is in such a central, practical location for most of us, right next to Central Festival crossroads. Also, although the pitch is not the highest quality, I enjoy very much playing there and I believe many others share this perspective.
We will be trying to play on this pitch every Saturday at 16.00, but stay tuned by e-mails and in the forum as this is subject to change based on the weather.
Headstart School at Google Maps ›
Phuket International Academy
The relatively new 5-a-side pitch at the Phuket International Academy (PIA) is a great facility for the Phuket Football community. Especially in the rainy season it comes as a blessing, as the pitch is almost immune to rainfall so to speak – The water drains straight through, and the pitch almost stays in the same mint condition as if it was dry.
The only problem for some of us in regards to PIA, is that it is located past Talang towards the airport and quite far away for most of us. Of course, this is mostly worthwhile because of the excellent facilities.
From now, through to September, we will be trying to play on this pitch every Tuesday and Thursday at 18.30, but stay tuned by e-mails and in the forum as this is subject to change based on participating numbers. The PIA pitch costs 1500 baht per hour to rent, which will be divided between all participants (usually adds up to around ~100 baht per person).
In September, the new AFL and VFL seasons are starting again, and we may need to reschedule our sessions at PIA.
Phuket International Academy at Google Maps ›
Other Pitches
We still have the option to play at the Wittijalay School in Phuket town if needed. It is below par quality, but it is still mostly covered by grass. More good news is that they are creating a new 11-a-side synthetic grass pitch at PIA, which should be ready to play on before the end of the year! I believe it will be hosting the upcoming Phuket Soccer 7s already in November! Sounds to me like less hassle with bureaucracy in trying to get decent playing venues for football events in Phuket …
Summary
- Tuesday 18.30 – PIA
- Thursday 18.30 – PIA
- Saturday 15.45 – Headstart School
As mentioned, the sessions above may change on short notice so stay tuned in the forum and by e-mail. Also, please register in the forums and notify if you will be participating in the specific events or not. Everyone is welcome …
Please feel free to make suggestions and discuss this topic in the comments section of this post, or in the forum topic below:
http://phuketfootball.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=50
