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Former Shrewsbury Town groundsman passes away

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Former Shrewsbury Town groundsman and Shropshire cricketer Brian Perry passes away: Former Shrewsbury Town groundsman and Shropshire cricketer Brian Perry has died at the age of 74.

Perry was the groundsman at Gay Meadow for 26 years before the club moved to their new stadium at Oteley Road.

But before that he enjoyed great success with the county’s cricket side and was part of Shropshire’s Minor Counties title-winning squad in 1973.

The fast-medium bowler claimed the wicket of Ian Botham in a Natwest Trophy match against Somerset at Wellington in 1983.

And he claimed another prized scalp 12 months later as he dismissed Geoff Boycott in Shropshire’s victory over Yorkshire at St Georges in the same competition.

But many will remember him from his time at Shrewsbury, where he often battled the elements brought on by the Gay Meadow’s proximity to the River Severn.

Town chairman Roland Wycherley led the tributes, saying: “Our thoughts and condolences go out to Brian’s family and friends at this sad time.

“Brian was a big part of Shrewsbury Town’s history and a familiar face at the Gay Meadow for many years.

“The conditions at the Gay Meadow meant the pitch was a challenge, but Brian’s hard work and dedication meant that games would go ahead despite those challenges.

 “He continued to work on match day at the new stadium and he will be greatly missed.”

Perry played his club cricket at Wem for many years and clubs around the county have expressed their sympathy.

Bridgnorth CC tweeted: “Such sad news to hear of Brian’s passing. A great character & fantastic cricketer. #Legend.”

Whitchurch CC tweeted: “Such sad news hearing that legend Brian Perry passing away. Our thoughts are with his family & friends @WemCricketClub. Such a top man.”

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Damage To Green And Missing Flags Frustrates Golf Club

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Damage to green and missing flags frustrates Timaru’s Highfield Golf Club: Highfield Golf Club wishes people would just leave their course the way they found it – in a nice tidy manner.

A number of flags used for on the greens have been going missing, while damage was also done to the green on the par 5 third hole on November 2.

The club’s greenkeeper Damian Rodgers said he couldn’t understand why people take the flags and hack at the greens.

“It’s just silly. I can’t understand why they’d do that. I mean why would you take a golf flag, what are you going to do with it.

“Some weeks we’ve had two or three flags go missing, other weeks none and at about $100 each to replace they’re aren’t cheap. It’s costing the club money.”

An insurance claim was looked into but with a steep excess the club opted against the idea.

Rodgers, who noticed the divots when he arrived to mow the third green about 8am on November 3, said the damage to the green was the first he’d since he started there 18 months ago.

“We’ve had plenty of flags go missing but that’s really the first bit of major damage to the greens.

“It’s honestly just a pain, it puts your day out and it meant I took a couple of hours trying to repair the green.”

The hole was out of action for most of the day on Friday and while it is now playable again, the divots from where the vandals hacked the green can still be seen.

“They’ll take a bit to fix completely but they hacked all round the holes and a couple of other parts on the green but we have fixed them so people can play the hole.”

Rodgers said they have an idea on who may have done it but isn’t certain.

“It’s in a secluded area the green, most of the stuff happens down this way because they often can’t be seen.”

He couldn’t understand why people would do those things at a golf club.

“It’s here for people to play. I don’t know why you’d do that it hasn’t done anything to them, it’s just really disappointing.”

Rodgers said they hoped this sort of stuff wouldn’t continue to happen.

This vandalism follows damage to the sports fields in Pleasant Point and at the Celtic club in Timaru that were badly damaged back in May and the smashing of war memorial panels at Caroline Bay on November 3.

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Hat-trick for Myerscough at IOG Awards

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Hat-trick for Myerscough at national IOG Awards: A Myerscough College learner has been honoured with a national accolade at the prestigious Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards 2017.

Tara Massey was named the Toro Most Promising Sports Turf Student of the Year. 20-year-old Tara has just completed her intermediate apprenticeship with Myerscough College, working as part of the grounds team at Manchester City Football Club.

Hat-trick for Myerscough at IOG Awards

Tara was praised for “her level of understanding (that) is nothing short of astonishing. The level of knowledge answers within her portfolio of evidence is more comparable to Level 3 and 4 work, and something that should be highly commended.” She completed her Level 2 programme in record time and now is looking to start the Level 3 programme.

The Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards are now in their ninth year and acknowledge the passion, dedication and challenges faced by grounds staff, volunteers and professionals across all levels of sport. Myerscough was once again well represented at the awards, with sportsturf learners past and present nominated in a number of categories.

In addition to Tara, former Myerscough College learner, James Wood, was named Young Groundsman of the Year. James completed a BTEC in Sportsturf before joining Manchester City. Meanwhile, Myerscough alumni Paul Burgess, who is now the Head Groundsman at Real Madrid, was given a Special Recognition Award.

They were given their awards at the ceremony, which is part of the annual SALTEX exhibition, where almost 700 of the UK’s and Europe’s leading grounds care experts from both the professional and volunteer sector, as well as dignitaries from the governing bodies of sport and influential sports administrators, honoured the expertise, dedication and passion of the grounds profession.

Lee Price, Employer Services Manager at Myerscough College said: “This is fantastic news for the College and congratulations to Tara. The IOG Awards winners can inspire more young people to consider a career in sportsturf. It’s great to celebrate so much success in the industry.’’

Tara Massey said: “I would say to other young women interested in the industry to not be scared, do not be put off and to just go for it. It’s a great job where no two days are the same, you have to solve lots of problems but you can often quickly see the rewards for you efforts.”

“I’ve really enjoyed the college side of my apprenticeship and never realised there was so much to the job. In the future I would like to progress both in my role and in my education and take things as far as I can.”

It’s the second successive year the category of Most Promising Sports Turf Student of the Year has been won by a Myerscough College learner, after fellow Manchester City sportsturf apprentice, Katie Croft, won the award in 2016.

There was further recognition for Myerscough College as the award for the National Governing Bodies Professional Sports Grounds Team of the Year went to Manchester City FC. The whole of the team completed their sportsturf training with Myerscough College.

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Reesink Launches New Toro Rotary Mower

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Reesink Launches New Toro Rotary Mower Designed To Increase Productivity and Decrease Downtime: ProLine H800 goes longer between stops for effortless mowing.

Reesink has announced the arrival of a brand-new Toro rotary mower designed to improve productivity by going longer between stops.

Reesink Launches New Toro Rotary Mower

Revealed at SALTEX 2017, the ProLine H800 direct collect rotary mower promises to boost productivity and revolutionise clipping clear-up for groundscare professionals across the UK.

With a 41ltr fuel tank and 810ltr collector, plus the ability to change the height of cut without stopping, Reesink Turfcare says productivity is at an all-time high with this machine.

Jeff Anguige, national sales manager at Reesink, says: “This launch will appeal to councils and landscape contractors looking for minimum downtime. The fuel tank is large enough to power a full day’s work, while the generous capacity of the collector is accompanied by a sensor which alerts the operator when it’s full. This avoids unnecessary stopping to check and empty it.”

In fact, you barely have to give clipping collection a second thought: “With the ProLine, you simply switch the mower on and go, most of the chores are done for you. Once the collector is full, the deck automatically disengages to prevent overfilling or grass going uncollected. Clippings can be emptied into a truck bed effortlessly with the high lift system, which can be raised to almost two metres in height and remotely controlled from the operator’s station,” explains Jeff.

To reduce interruptions further, the height of cut can be changed to between 20-110mm from the operator’s seat, enabling quick and intuitive adjustment. No time is wasted stopping to unclog the machine either, thanks to automatic deck cleaning wipers.

This machine is perfect for those with a large workload on a tight schedule. The 26.1hp engine powers up to 12,000m2 of mowing per hour, throughout which the ProLine’s high performance cutting system delivers a clean quality of cut ideal for sports fields and commercial sites.

Added to that, the machine affords excellent visibility, enabling trimming right up to the edges of pathways and borders within parks and urban areas. Built with durability in mind, the ProLine’s deck boasts a welded bull nose bumper and heavy-duty caster forks to withstand any knocks thrown its way, and long-lasting skid protection makes it a machine to be relied on.

A durable and intuitive new addition to Reesink’s product line, the Toro ProLine is set to impress those with no time to stop.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Durham CCC Groundsmen Honoured

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Durham County Cricket Club groundsmen honoured for keeping Chester-le-Street ground pitch perfect: Some of the unsung heroes of North-East sport have been honoured for their dedication to keeping a cricket field pitch perfect.

The grounds team at Durham County Cricket Club has won two major honours at this year’s Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Industry Awards.

Durham CCC Groundsmen Honoured

The club won the Headland Amenity Professional Cricket Grounds Team of the Year and head groundsman Vic Demain was named individual Groundsman of the Year.

Both awards were presented at a ceremony at the National Conference Centre, in Birmingham, hosted by Talksport radio presenter Mark Saggers.

Mr Demain was appointed head groundsman at Chester-le-Street in 2015, following two years as deputy head groundsman at Trent Bridge.

The Durham grounds team of four full-timers and one part-timer ensure the Emirates Riverside Stadium pitch is maintained to the level demanded of an international cricket ground.

They keep records of moisture content and hardness of every match pitch, which are forwarded to the ECB so that a data picture is created for every game.

They also compile a daily record of all work undertaken on the pitch, and of daily temperatures and rainfall.

As well as internationals, the ground hosts County Championship, 50-over and T20 fixtures for Durham’s first team, second XI and academy sides, along with other events including rock and pop concerts.

The grounds team is also overseeing development of a new second XI pitch next to the stadium.

Mr Demain said he holds regular meetings with other groundsmen to: “reach out to the local community of groundsmen to help them develop within the industry”.

IOG chief executive Geoff Webb, said: “This year’s awards demonstrate the skills and passion of groundsmanship throughout the UK.

“Winning an award is testament to the dedication of the grounds teams and individuals whose ability to produce and maintain ever-improving playing surfaces, which enables more games to take place, goes largely unnoticed.”

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