Conceptual Outline


1. Background Research

    Rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in the Lower Mainland, especially amongst high school students. Many cities throughout the region have established playing fields and facilities that are specifically designed to meet the needs for rugby. Unfortunately the City of Port Moody doesn't have a current rugby facility to support the growth of the sport. Currently the fields in the city are inadequate to support the sport of rugby. There are two main reasons why the fields are inadequate: 1) the fields are too small (length and width), and 2) the use of the fields are often booked solid by groups such as the Port Moody Soccer Association.

    As the city's population continues to rise, increased pressure will be placed on the cities current sports field infrastructure. City administrators have addressed the issues of both the lack of a rugby facility and the increased pressure on field use, in the 2003 City of Port Moody Parks and Recreation Master Plan. In addition to meeting the needs for rugby in Port Moody, the field could also be used to support rugby in the Tri-Cities area. Presently the Pocomo rugby club, which represents the Tri-Cities area, is based out of a field that is located in New Westminister. By constructing a rugby field in Port Moody not only would it benefit the sport, especially amongst high school students, but it would also establish a "true" home for the region's rugby club.

    For anyone who has never played the sport or experienced its culture may not understand why the sport requires its own facility. By having a field that is for rugby use only would ensure that all teams within a club would play at the same location. The reason for this is that, unlike soccer or baseball where you play on an individual team,  in rugby you play for a club. Within that club there are numerous teams that encompass numerous age groups for both men and women. For example the Burnaby Lake Rugby Club has four senior men's teams, three junior men's teams, one senior women's team, two junior women's teams, and a men's over forty team. By playing and practicing at the same facility it allows for the growth of the sport on the field (i.e. players abilities) and allows for friendships and business relations to be developed off the field. Go to any rugby clubhouse on a Saturday afternoon and you will find a full house with players and supports forging friendships over a pint of beer. And it is the these reasons that rugby requires it own facility to pass on the traditions of the game to future generations.

    In order to accomplish this project I used Idrisi Kilimanjaro, along with ArcGIS to manipulate the data that it is required.

2. Study Design
    I have chosen six criteria that will be used for this project. Four of which would be used as factors and the remaining two would be constraints. It must be noted that these aren't all the criteria that would be use in determining the location of a field. Time constraints and inadequate data where an issue in obtaining these additional criteria.
 
Factors
    1) Slope (Steeper slopes means greater construction cost)
    2) Roads (Accessibility is important to site location)
    3) Schools (To encourage growth in the sport amongst young people by locating the field close to schools so they can use them)
    4) Pubs (To help facilitate the camaraderie amongst players and supporters)
   
Constraints
    1) Streams (Minimize impacts on watercourses)
    2) Land use (Cannot be build in land that is already developed and cannot be build in environmentally sensitive areas such as protected land)

Last Page                                                                             Home                                                                                  Next Page