Groundsman recognised at seminar

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Groundsman recognised at seminar: Westbury & District Cricket Club’s groundsman, Gordon Gill, was invited to join top groundsmen from across the country to speak about his experience at a seminar held last month. 

He was joined by Vic Demain (head groundsman at  Durham CCC), Karl McDermott (head groundsman at  MCC/Lords), Sean Williams (head groundsman at Gloucestershire CCC) and former Australian test batsman Marcus North at Durham CCC.

 Gordon spent two days at Durham County Cricket Club speaking to both paid and volunteer groundsmen from clubs all over the country about the experience he has gained over the years at Westbury & District Cricket Club, Bath Cricket Club and as an ECB pitch advisor. 

Gordon Gill said, “It was a very informative and enjoyable experience, it was great to share a platform with head groundsmen from prestigious stadiums such as Lords, Twickenham and Murrayfield  as well as from top venues such as Gloucestershire CCC and Durham CCC. 

“A very big thank you should go to Dennis/Sisis for sponsoring this annual event to get grassroots cricket groundsmen together to share their experience and knowledge.”

The club said, “As a club we are proud to know that Gordon is up there with the best groundsmen in the country and it is a pleasure for ex-players and current players to have played/play on pitches that Gordon has produced. If anyone has any questions about maintenance of a pitch and would like to learn, please do not hesitate to contact the club at www.westburyanddistrict cc.co.uk.”

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The IOG set to rebrand

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The IOG set to rebrand: Following independent research entitled ‘Groundsmanship: Sports Vital Profession’ which highlighted the urgent need for change, the IOG today announces its intention to re-brand. After a thorough selection process, the proposed new brand name and identity, unanimously backed by the Board of the IOG, will be the ‘Grounds Management Association’.

The IOG is calling on members to get behind the name change to modernise and widen the appeal and status of the profession to a more diverse demographic. The new, fresh identity befits the modern day approach to the management of sports turf in the 21st Century.

The IOG set to rebrand

The IOG set to rebrand

An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) has been called, taking place on 2nd April at Edgbaston County Cricket Ground, where members have the opportunity to vote in person for the rebrand. Alternatively, members can also vote by post.

The new name is part of a wider re-brand, including updated branding and the new tagline – making sport possible. The rebrand is designed to provide clarity on the role of the industry, and support the IOG’s current ‘Grounds for Sport’ campaign, which seeks to highlight how vital grounds management is to sport nationwide.

The rebrand comes following the organisation’s 2019 report ‘Groundsmanship – Sport’s Vital Profession’. The independent research found that 40% of the industry’s workforce is over 50, one in five grounds managers will be leaving their jobs within the next five years and only 1% of the current workforce is female. Furthermore, more than two thirds of community grounds volunteers are aged over 60 and almost all are over 50.

Further research, which looked at perceptions of the IOG, found that one in five thought the word ‘groundsmanship’ was a barrier to attracting new talent.

Following these findings, focus groups made up of current members, non-members, stakeholders, Board Directors and staff, led to the selection of Grounds Management Association.

Geoff Webb, CEO at the IOG, said:

“The future success of the industry depends on us attracting more people from all backgrounds to the profession, which is why we’re proposing a more modern brand and name.

“Our extensive research into perceptions of our brand and the profession more widely has shown us that it’s vital we respond to the industry’s needs and take the organisation in a new, forward-looking and exciting direction.

“We believe under the banner of the Grounds Management Association, we’ll be better placed to promote the industry to the wider public, attract a new generation of grounds staff to the profession, and encourage more investment into the sector.

“Crucially, we cannot do this without our members’ support. We urge every single member to get online and vote yes to this change to create the conditions to help us meet the challenges and expectations we face to elevate the standing, status and value of the vital role of sports turf management today. Whether a volunteer or paid professional, come to Edgbaston on 2nd April to help us take the first step on this exciting new journey.”

The Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) will be held on April 2 at Edgbaston County Cricket Ground at 12pm. All members are welcome to attend, but only eligible voting members can take part in the vote. If members are unable to attend, they can vote by post (prior to the EGM). Details of how to vote will be available on the IOG website: www.iog.org

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What a signing!

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What a signing!: Port Vale have made some terrific signings over the years although not many have given greater service than the 17-year-old groundsman they took on in May 1979.

Hard-working, knowledgeable, hugely dedicated to the club….oh, and best avoided if the Vale have just had a game called off.

That doesn’t happen very often, which is testament to the skill and experience of Steve Speed who has been defying the elements at the Vale for 41 years.

He doesn’t have the advantage of a modern pitch at 70-year-old Vale Park, but it takes pretty much an act of God to get a game off at the Vale, and even then it’s a close-run thing.

‘Speedy’, as the head groundsman is better known to colleagues and Vale fans, was poached from the city council, as he recalled in a Sentinel interview.

“I was training at the old Meir aerodrome to be a park keeper, but then the parks department reorganised and I was going to be sent to the closest job to home, which would have meant being a grave digger.

“As a 17-year-old I didn’t fancy that. I saw an advert in the paper for an assistant groundsman at Vale, got an interview and started on a bank holiday.”

Dennis Butler was in charge at the time, the first of 15 managers who have had cause to be grateful to Speedy’s expertise.

The club’s owners over the years have also appreciated what an asset they have got, a head groundsman who sometimes reports in at 4am to try to get a game on – and then has been the last to leave, keys jangling, at matchday’s end.

Of course there have occasionally been disagreements along the way, perhaps most famously when Bill Bell came up with a publicity stunt.

As Steve would recall: “We have about an acre-and-a-half of grass banking at the back of the Railway Stand which is a nightmare to keep short.

“So, tongue in cheek one night, I said to the chairman it was a pity we couldn’t get any sheep. He got talking to someone in the pub and a week later he told me he could get six or seven for the summer.

“It worked really well. They were eating all the grass and all we had to do was keep their trough filled up with water.

“The problem was Sky Sports got to hear about the sheep at Vale, not realising they were just at the back of the stand.

“The chairman decided it would be great publicity and told me to get them on the pitch for a few pictures.”

Steve, it’s fair to say, voiced his objections, but to no avail. Instead, legend has it that Mr Bell removed a cigar from his mouth and uttered the memorable line, “Speedy, round ’em up!”

Steve added: “We had these sheep running all over the pitch and Sky got their pictures. But could we get the sheep off afterwards? No chance.

“They wanted to stay on this lovely lush grass not go back to walking up the back of the stand. We were chasing them everywhere, it must have taken us an hour to get them off the pitch. To be fair, I have seen a few midfield players here who didn’t move as fast.”

He’s usually too busy to see 90 minutes of a home match, but is a regular at away games to keep an eye on the club he has served with distinction across six decades.

Vale’s owner, Carol Shanahan, is pleased to nominate him in the Service to Sport category at the Sentinel/City of Stoke-on-Trent Sports Personality of the Year awards.

She says he has done a wonderful job on the Vale pitch: “He looks after it with no mod cons. He has a mower and a nine-mile walk that he does regularly. His pride to keep that pitch in tip top condition is exemplary.

“He is very much part of the fabric of Port Vale. So, the club has been through all levels of turbulence over those 41 years but he has kept that pitch pristine.

“Despite any reputation to the contrary, I’m pleased to say he has a wonderful smile and I’m delighted to have seen it a lot this season.

“When Robbie Williams’ management rang me about the concert here, I wouldn’t have said yes unless Speedy said so.

“I am very happy to nominate him for this award.”

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Council cutback challenges

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Council cutback challenges: Council workers are maintaining enough grassland in Argyll and Bute to cover the entire area of Monaco – but sometimes struggling to be available to cut it.

A report has revealed that two million square metres of open grassland space is maintained by the authority’s staff – equivalent to the size of 257 Hampden Park football pitches.

It also says that parts of the area have not had their grass cut to specifications as determined by the council, with competing demands including burials and bin collections.

The budget available for grass cutting has also been reduced by more than 15% since the 2013/14 financial year.

A report on the issue will be discussed at a meeting of the council’s environment, development and infrastructure committee on Thursday.

The document, written by Kirsty Flanagan, the council’s executive director with responsibility for roads and infrastructure, said: “Over the course of last year there were a number of service delivery issues in Cowal, and to a lesser extent across the wider council area, where grassland maintenance had not been carried out to the pre-determined specification.

“This was due in part to a limited level of resilience within the team, an ageing demographic in the workforce, and a number of sickness absences, some of which were medium to long term.

“With the exception of Cowal, the rest of the council area was generally delivered to the specification, although the same limited level of resilience exists across all the council area.

“The current specification has been formed over time, and originated from historic grass cutting schedules that were in place prior to Argyll and Bute being established as a local authority in 1996.

“In recent times those historic schedules have been amended through a succession of budget reductions.”

The report states that all sports fields in the area are scheduled to be cut 21 times a year, with other facilities, such as amenity areas and cemeteries, subject to different specifications by area. These vary from 12 in Bute to 17 for Lorn and Lomond.

She continued: “Reducing the number of cuts any further is not considered to be achievable in terms of delivering meaningful savings.

“Fewer cuts mean the grass is longer when it is cut, so the time to complete the tasks increase and the strain on equipment is greater.

“This would lead to more equipment down-time and greater maintenance and/or replacement costs.

“The current service standards are achievable within the existing budget, staffing and machinery framework. However, resources are so closely matched to those standards that there is limited, if any, resilience to respond to issues which inevitably arise.

“Decisions are having to be made on a regular basis to prioritise what work can be carried out with the available resource.

“It is not unusual for our operational supervisors and managers to be faced with competing demands, including digging graves/burying the dead, collecting bins, making safe potentially dangerous defects and grass cutting.

“Inevitably, but unfortunately, grass cutting often has to be left.

“Last year, in one of the administrative areas, there was an unusual increase in burials over a period which meant that very little grass was cut.

“Although the provision of a grass cutting service is a non-statutory function, the effective maintenance of public open spaces supports the economic development and growth of the area both in terms of attracting tourists as well as new residents.

“Providing and suitably maintaining sporting facilities also supports another strategic priority – allowing people to live active, healthier and independent lives.”

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‘Truly testing’ winter at Plymouth

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‘Truly testing’ winter at Plymouth: Plymouth Argyle’s head of grounds Chris Ralph has described the ‘truly testing’ winter that has taken its toll on the Home Park pitch.

February has seen record rainfall levels across the country and Plymouth has not escaped the deluges.

The combination of that very wet weather, plus a busy programme of games in the month, has inevitably had a detrimental effect on the usually immaculate playing surface.

Ralph explained the situation in a post on social media on Saturday morning as groundsmen up and down the country battled to get games played.

Argyle’s League Two game against Bradford City was played in a mudbath at Valley Parade after referee Carl Boyeson carried out two pitch inspections.

Ralph tweeted: “Good luck to everyone today trying to get games on! This winter, and in particular this last month, have been truly testing!

“We’ve gone from a fantastic coverage to very patchy with seven uses in February and pretty much all in wet weather. All good fun!”

Ralph will be relieved there has been some drier weather over the past couple of days.

He and his staff have two games to prepare for this week, with Argyle playing Ian Holloway’s Grimsby Town tomorrow night.

Relegation-threatened Macclesfield Town will then be the visitors to Home Park on Saturday.

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