More space for knights

EM broke records, Rappottenstein soccer pitch

Massive rocks were blasted at the Rappottenstein sports ground in order to build larger playing fields.

(Bild: USC Jungwirth Rappottenstein)

Rappottenstein's "Knights" celebrated their new fortress in the Waldviertel. With a lot of sweat and an enormous number of volunteer hours, they not only modernized their club building, but also created two adequately sized soccer pitches. They also needed explosives.

The work of a worker who works through five years without a vacation was carried out on a voluntary basis by 176 people for the new "fortress" in Rappottenstein in the Zwettl district. There - just a few meters from their castle as the crow flies - the self-proclaimed knights redesigned the clubhouse and two large soccer pitches.

Suffering from small pitches
USC Jungwirth Rappottenstein had always suffered from a small soccer pitch; the training pitch measuring 40 by 25 meters did not even deserve the name. The many training sessions and matches repeatedly took their toll on the pitch and resulted in high renovation costs, explains chairman Andreas Haag.

Landscape posed explosive challenges
"The hilly terrain posed a particular challenge in terms of creating a level surface for the sports pitches," explained project manager Christoph Fichtinger, who played on the pitch himself for many years. As a result, blasting was carried out four times - including directly next to the pitch - to create 13,000 m2 of playing space on both soccer pitches instead of the previous half. The clubhouse was also modernized and enlarged to four cabins for better match operations, as the Rappottensteiner have five youth teams alone with 83 children, which is outstanding for a community of 1700 inhabitants.

176 volunteers worked more than 9500 hours on the major project. Now there was a celebration in Rappottenstein.

(Bild: USC Jungwirth Rappottenstein)

Blasted material recycled
But not only were 8000 m3 of earth removed, the large blasted rocks were immediately recycled and used in a new stone wall.