Are your sports facilities ready for colder weather?

As we come to the late-autumn months, it's important to ensure your venue's sports facilities are prepared for longer evenings and colder weather. It can be easy to leave preparations for the colder seasons until the last minute, but it's important to carry out these key tasks in advance. Today on the SportsKey blog, we're sharing our tips for making sure your venue is ready for the months ahead.

Get your floodlights ready.

With colder months comes longer evenings, increasing the need for floodlight usage. Carry out any maintenance required for your floodlights and make sure they're prepared for longer hours in use. If you turn on and off your floodlights manually, it might be worth considering automating the usage of your lights with SportsKey's remote access and floodlight's solution. Also ensure you account for increased lights usage when allocating funds for energy costs in the coming months.

Ensure grass fields are prepared for winter.

If you have grass pitches at your venue, its important to carry out maintenance before the start of winter. If your pitches uses natural sod, execute the aerification process at least a month before the start of winter. Regularly brush your pitches to remove any debris and carry out regular leaf clearing to keep the grass healthy. Prepare and schedule any required maintenance in advance to avoid any damage to your playing surfaces.

Reconcile any past invoices.

Make sure all of your finances are organized ahead of the new season. Check if there are any outstanding payments from customers and make sure they are reconciled before accepting any more bookings from these customers. This will prevent confusion and inaccuracies when carrying out end of the year financial reporting.

Prepare for weather-related cancellations.

Inclement weather is inevitable coming into the colder months. Prepare in advance for last-minute cancellations by simplifying your facility closure process. For example, administrators can bulk close facilities on the SportsKey system – this process automatically cancels any relevant bookings and sends an email to the customer letting them know of the cancellation reason. Ensure you have a simplified process ready to go so you're prepared.

Take your sports facilities to the next level this season with SportsKey's easy to use sports facility management platform. Get a custom demo or see a preview here.