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SCG Curator Tom Parker To Stand Down

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SCG curator Tom Parker to stand down ahead of Ashes series – Outgoing Sydney Cricket Ground curator Tom Parker has cited the increasing amounts of speculation regarding the Test pitches he prepares as a reason for his resignation from the position.

SCG curator Tom Parker to stand down ahead of Ashes series

Tom has been in the role for twenty years and, throughout that time, has seen a growing band of “experts” commenting on his work publicly, while he also believes expectations from the players and fans are nowadays “above reality”.

“I always said I’d do this job until I don’t want to do it anymore and it sort of got to that point,” Tom stated.

“The SCG is like a fishbowl with everyone looking in. Everyone is an expert. The players today … they’re different to what it was it was 10, 15 years ago. Everyone’s expectations are well and above reality.”

“It’s very hard to win an argument against elite sportspeople. You’ve got someone who is the best in the world in whatever code it is say something, everyone listens, and they’ll listen to you last.”

“In years gone by, the administrations or the players themselves were probably a bit more understanding of the needs of what we had to do.”

Tom also suggested players and teams needed to take responsibility for results and the poor performances that lead to them, citing instead what he believes is the current trend of pointing the finger at the wicket.

“Is someone going to put their hand up and say ‘we weren’t good enough?'” he added. “It’s always the blame game and it’s never their (the players’) fault.”

“That can wear you down after a while and you think ‘I don’t need that in my life’.”

Tom Parker is just the eighth curator in the history of the famous venue. “It’s been a privilege to work at this magnificent ground,” he said on the SCG website. “There are certainly some special moments that I’ll look back on in coming years, but the opportunity to call the SCG home for the past two decades is what I’m most proud of.”

To read the original article from Cricket/Network, click here

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Sport Wales Opens Up £3m Community Physical Activity Fund

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Sport Wales Opens Up £3m Community Physical Activity Fund – The National Lottery funding will be distributed via two pots – the Community Chest fund and Development Grants.

The former offers start-up grants of up to £1,500 for smaller organisations to stimulate sporting and physical activity, while the latter is offering individual funds of up to £25,000 for more established sport and physical activity offers.

Grants can be used for start-up equipment, upgrading local facilities, physical recreation projects and business development.

Wales is also the only nation in the UK that offers full financial support for volunteers, therefore money can be used for a volunteering strategy as well.

In 2016/17, 1,421 Community Chest awards totalled £1.7m, while 82 Development Grants were made at an overall cost of £962,652.

The funding is part of a larger annual £42m pot earmarked by Sport Wales to stimulate community sport and support elite success.

New Sport Wales chair Lawrence Conway said that communities were “at the very core” of growing participation.

He added: “It’s so important because it’s about sport and activity but it’s much more than that. I see first hand how we can help build togetherness, give people new skills, help people get fitter and healthier and change people’s lives.”

To read the original article from Sports Management, click here

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Richard Lucas Makes First Dealership Appointment

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New signing at Charterhouse Richard Lucas makes first dealership appointment – Six months on from his appointment as Central Area Territory Manager for Charterhouse Turf Machinery, Richard Lucas has made his first new dealer appointment in the form of Charlies Groundcare.

New signing at Charterhouse Richard Lucas makes first dealership appointment

Responsible for the Shropshire region, Charlies Groundcare will be distributing the Redexim range of products for both natural and synthetic surfaces.

Based in the Midlands, Richard joined Charterhouse in November from a regional dealership where he gained experience with the Redexim range of products and developed a good insight into the products and marketplace in the area. His new role sees him take over responsibility for the dealers and sales in Central UK, as well as working together with some key customers. On his first dealer appointment Richard said, “Now I’ve found my feet in this new role it’s good to be adding valuable dealer support within my area. The Charlies Groundcare team deliver fantastic sales, service and technical support and I look forward to working with them in the coming months to further enhance the offering to new and existing customers in this area.”

Charlies Groundcare, a division of Charlies Stores Ltd, has grown from strength to strength since gaining a John Deere Dealership ten years ago. They now represent a range of brands catering for residential, landscaping, groundcare, golf and sports markets. Commenting on their appointment, Ian Trevor Charlies Groundcare Sales Manager said, “We’re delighted to be working together with Charterhouse and adding their vast selection of machinery to our portfolio. The Redexim range is continually being updated and refined and is renowned for being versatile and efficient, meeting the demands of today’s ground professionals.”

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ATT SMARTUltraGroomer™ cassettes help Ely City GC

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ATT SMARTUltraGroomer™ cassettes help Ely City GC move over to Bent grasses – To provide a more even transition between Bent and Poa grasses in the greens surfaces, Ely City Golf Club have invested in a set of SMARTUltraGroomer™ cassettes from within the ATT TMSystem™ range.  Opened in 1962, and extended to 18 holes in 1973, Ely City GC offers a testing, compact, parkland course on the outskirts of the city.

ATT SMARTUltraGroomer™ cassettes help Ely City GC

When his existing cassette system failed, Andy Baker, Head Greenkeeper at the club, demo’d the ATT SMARTUltraGroomer™ cassette and was particularly impressed.  Andy was no novice to the system, “I’d been wanting these for quite a while but as machinery purchases are normally budgeted over a five year period, I wasn’t in a position to get them. The main plus of these over our previous units is how easily and quickly they can be dropped in and out of our triplex – without multiple pivots and joints which can seize and break. It also speeds up the process for my team as they don’t need to take the machine apart – that’s a big bonus.”

Taking delivery of the units in February, the team has been out with them at least once a week, beginning level before dropping them to -2mm as the season progressed.  “The weekly pass is to stand the bent up and remove lateral growth. We’ll go out with the groomers first, then someone will follow behind and mow. It’s amazing the quantity of material we remove with such minimal surface disruption.”

The ATT SMARTUltraGroomer™ cassette has over 80 1.3mm tungsten carbide tipped blades spaced at 5mm apart to ensure greens are maintained in the best condition. It will minimise puffiness in high density Creeping Bent and Bermuda grasses by reducing ‘scalping’ and ‘foot-printing’. The cassette will also remove seed heads in Poa annua turf and on newly established greens, it can help reduce the ingress of Poa annua by “grabbing” individual plants before they get a chance to take hold.

“Now we’ve got the taste for the ATT TMSystem™ we’re looking at adding some of the other cassettes from the range into our fleet,” says Andy. “My team and I are totally converted – It may have been a long time coming but they were worth the wait!”

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Tottenham Not Allowed To Alter Wembley Pitch

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Tottenham not allowed to alter Wembley pitch – Tottenham’s plans to reduce the size of the Wembley playing surface have been blocked by the Premier League.

Tottenham not allowed to alter Wembley pitch

Spurs will play their home matches at the national stadium next season while their new £800million home is built ready for the start of the 2018 – 19 season.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side played five times at Wembley last season in Europe and the FA Cup, but only won one of those matches.

Part of their problems at Wembley was put down to the size of the pitch which doesn’t suit their high-pressing game; the White Hart Lane surface was the second smallest in the league ahead of Stoke at 100m by 67m, while Wembley’s surface is 105m by 69m.

The Premier League introduced rules two years ago to standardise pitches at 100m by 68m. The only pitches that are allowed to be smaller are those in older grounds, like White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge, where there isn’t room to extend the pitch outwards.

Because Wembley does have the space to meet the Premier League’s minimum requirement for a pitch, Spurs won’t be allowed to make the dimensions any smaller, although they could request it is reduced from 69m to 68m, per the league’s rules.

According to the Times, it was made clear to Tottenham at a meeting of the Premier League’s 20 chairman that they would not be allowed special dispensation to change the size of the pitch.

That could be an issue for Spurs as they seek to improve upon their second-placed finish last season. Pochettino’s men secured a record high finish and points haul, but fell short in the title race behind eventual champions Chelsea.

When it is built, the pitch at Tottenham’s new stadium will also have to confirm to the pitch size rules.

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