GMA education programme continues to grow

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GMA education programme continues to grow: The Grounds Management Association (GMA) reaches a significant milestone in its online training with more than 2,000 enrolling for its courses since the pandemic began.

Now, the not-for-profit member organisation adds two new courses to its training offering; Online Level 2 Cricket Surfaces (Applied Turf Culture) and the first face-to-face training course since the Covid-19 pandemic began, Level 2 Racecourse: Turf Management.

GMA education programme continues to grow

GMA education programme continues to grow

Taking around 6 hours to complete, Online Level 2 Cricket Surfaces (Applied Turf Culture) is ideal for volunteers or new additions to grounds teams seeking to develop their skills and learn about the importance of preparing a playing surface with the implementation of an annual maintenance plan.

Students who successfully complete the end of course assessment gain valuable knowledge and applicable skills for day-to-day maintenance activities and a certificate of achievement, whilst the course’s specialist content will be crucial for all aspiring cricket grounds staff or volunteers.

Whilst expanding its online training suite, the GMA also announces the return of face-to-face training with a 5-day training course at the British Racing School. Taking place from 14 – 19 November 2021, Level 2 Racecourse: Turf Management teaches students how to apply the theory required to understand the science of racecourse grounds maintenance and will be equally relevant for individual grounds staff as well as Clerks of the course.

Developed in conjunction with the Racecourse Association and the British Horseracing Authority, the 5-day course will be delivered by industry experts, Alan Lewis NDT, Adrian Kay, Head Groundsman at York Racecourse and Richard Linley, Senior Inspector of Courses at the British Horseracing Authority, with accommodation and food covered in the package.

Dan Prest, Head of Technical and Learning, said:

“It has been an incredibly challenging 18 months, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the drive from so many in the industry to continue in their professional journey and development working in the turf-care sector. Whilst we’ve all had to adapt to a more online-orientated work and study life, we know how valuable practical face-to-face training courses are.

We’re also pleased to be developing more content than ever to align with our Pitch Advisory Service objectives to help volunteers get the most of their local natural and artificial surfaces.”

You can sign-up to online Level 2 Cricket Surfaces (Applied Turf Culture) by clicking here.

Or to find out more about Level 2 Racecourse: Turf Management, click here.

More details on the Pitch Advisory Service can be found on the GMA’s website.

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RFU and Honda UK announce partnership

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RFU and Honda UK announce partnership: Honda has created a giant set of rugby goalposts from its fleet of new cars to celebrate the launch of a new partnership with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and England Rugby.

The multi-year agreement sees Honda become the Performance Partner and Official Vehicle of England Rugby.

RFU and Honda UK announce partnership

RFU and Honda UK announce partnership

To celebrate it, a team at Honda’s mass distribution centre at Portbury Docks, Bristol, created the unusual rugby-themed image. A total of 49 models of varying size and colour, including the Jazz Hybrid, Jazz Crosstar and Civic, were parked into the shape of a 100ft long set of rugby posts, with numerous other cars positioned below to spell out ENG.

Rebecca Adamson, Head of Automobile, Honda UK, said: “We are thrilled to announce this exciting new partnership with The Rugby Football Union.

“On a brand level, there are huge synergies between Honda and England Rugby and we truly believe it’s a partnership that supports our own philosophy of giving everyone the ‘Power to Dream’ and we’re all very excited to see what the next few years will bring.

“For a bit of fun, we thought we’d turn our large car park at Portbury into a giant set of rugby posts which could be visible from quite a distance.”

The long-term relationship, which officially kicks off today (1 September) in time for the start of the new season, will see Honda align with England Rugby in several exciting ways.

The Honda logo will feature on the England men’s U18 and U20 playing and training kits produced by Umbro.

Honda will also become the Principal Partner to the England Rugby senior men’s official training centre located at Pennyhill Park, to be named as the Honda England Rugby Performance Centre.

In addition, Honda will provide the official vehicle fleet to England Rugby and its employees. There will be a major focus in sustainability in this area with the majority of the cars supplied having a degree of electrification.

There will also be support for community rugby in England, with Honda coming on board as the first ever title partner for the Grounds Connected programme as well as support for volunteering in the grassroots game through the Honda Volunteer Recognition Programme.

In addition to becoming the Official Automotive Partner to England Rugby, Honda will activate across their Motorcycle, ATV, Lawn and Garden products.

RFU Chief Executive, Bill Sweeney, added: “We are delighted to confirm Honda UK as an Official Partner of the RFU and England Rugby.

“Honda is a massive global brand well-known for its innovation and we are certain it will be a great fit for us. Honda’s global brand positioning is enabling ‘the Power of Dreams’ and ‘challenging spirit’ which is synonymous with our own.

“We look forward to working with Honda on what will no doubt be some exciting partnership activations over the next few years.”

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Bionema appoints TurfCare distributor for Nematrident®

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Bionema appoints TurfCare distributor for Nematrident®: Bionema Ltd, a leading biopesticide technology company, has signed a distribution agreement with TurfCare to sell its unique patented NemaTrident® range of products on an exclusive basis in the turf, leisure and amenity sector in Ireland.

NemaTrident® is a Tri-Component patented, environmentally friendly solution used to control more than 50 different insect species including chafer grubs and leatherjackets. These pests eat grass roots and can cause devastating damage to golf courses, sports turf and ornamental lawns. According to a research report conducted by independent agricultural and environmental consultancy ADAS the economic cost of damage by chafer grubs at UK golf courses alone is estimated to be £85million a year, from lost income and damage repair, and lost income by 40% of UK racecourses affected by pest damage could amount to £605,000 per course.

Bionema appoints TurfCare distributor for Nematrident®

Bionema appoints TurfCare distributor for Nematrident®

Bionema’s NemaTrident® Tri-Component patented solution incorporates a range of highly virulent insect-parasitic nematodes within the Heterorhabditis and Steinernema genera, a biocompatible wetting agent (Nemaspreader®) and expert advice. These nematodes attack and destroy the larvae of the insect pests – preventing future pests from developing. They are safe, non-toxic to users and consumers, decompose rapidly and can be targeted at specific pests to avoid harming beneficial insects. These sustainable products provide 70-95% success rates in combating pests.

TurfCare is a leading distributor of fertilizers, seed, irrigation and other amenity sector specialist products within Ireland and the company is constantly on the lookout for innovative products within the sport and amenity sectors. Bionema has partnered with TurfCare because it believes it has the best product knowledge and insight into the Irish turf and amenity sector and is well-positioned to include the NemaTrident® range of biological products.

Commenting on the partnership, Dr Minshad Ansari, Bionema founder and CEO, said: “In a market with significant potential, there is a clear opportunity for TurfCare to continue helping greenkeepers, grounds managers, racecourse managers and landscapers in the control of chafer grubs and leatherjackets, when chemicals are banned across Europe.”

Pat Galavan, CEO at Turf Care said: “Our role is to combine all the potential solutions for our customers throughout Ireland.  Our staff have all been briefed on the most effective way to use the Nematrident® range of nematodes to help control chafer grubs and leatherjackets as part of an Integrated Pest Management programme.”

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Change in approach to managing amenity spaces

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Change in approach to managing amenity spaces: Withdrawal from the European community, and the consequences of a pandemic, are already substantially impacting on all who manage amenity and sports spaces.

The pandemic has highlighted just how important these areas are to all and especially in the urban and sporting environment. BREXIT has heralded new requirements in trading, changes in resource sourcing and more. For those charged with maintaining areas, those involved operationally and indeed anyone with an interest in amenity, these are times when it can be difficult to keep up with policy announcements and new innovations and approaches.

Change in approach to managing amenity spaces

Change in approach to managing amenity spaces

All this means that the timing of the 2021 Amenity Forum conference, to be held on October 21st, could not be better and its title ‘Facing the Future’ very apt indeed. The conference will focus on policy change and its impact. The event will commence with keynote senior speakers from Defra, the Chemicals Regulation Department of HSE (CRD) and the Environment Agency. Defra will address change resulting from the recent review of the UK National Action Plan relating to weed, pest and disease management. The CRD speaker will address changes in pesticide regulation and enforcement approaches. The Environment Agency will look at the ever tightening of regulation relating to water and its quality. Each area is crucially important and reason in itself for conference attendance.

These will be followed by some eminent speakers involved operationally who will look at what more integrated approaches might mean including a specific contractor and a distributor view. There will then be a focus on the vitally important area of education and training. Policy change will bring more requirements for both training and CPD and increased innovation in how this can be delivered. The conference programme will conclude with some individual perspectives on the future for amenity and sports space management. This will include a focus on parks, on the environmental impact of various management approaches and what is involved in creating and maintaining surfaces at an international sporting venue.

To complement all of this will be an exhibition area where supporters will be on hand to showcase and describe what they do and new developments. There will be the announcement of the category winners for the Amenity Sprayer Operator of the Year and John Moverley will provide a presentation of his thoughts looking forward.

A day not to be missed and, given the support from organisations, very competitively priced at £95 per delegate. For further information, please contact Kate at admin@amenityforum.net

Some comments from participants at last year’s event were:

‘’I would just like to say a huge thank you for putting on a great conference, along with some excellent speakers in their various fields of expertise from across the sector. The whole conference was well organised, fast moving and held my attention throughout’’

‘’Congratulations on such a successful and well run event.  As usual the standard of presenters and presentations was incredibly high, although we’ve come to expect that. .  It was an incredibly worthwhile day, very enjoyable and I learnt new things’’

‘’Just to let you know that I thought the conference yesterday was really excellent – the content and speakers were very good and their topics were very relevant.  Very well managed making great use of the time, an event not to be missed’’

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