Trophy For Alfreton Groundsman

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Trophy For Alfreton Groundsman: Alfreton Town’s Rob Brooks picked up the third place trophy in the National League category at the FA Groundsman of the Year Awards.

Boreham Wood claimed first place with Chesterfield in second.

The Impact Arena is widely recognised up and down the country for its stunning surface and being one of the best non league surfaces outside the football league.

With the likes of Nottingham Forest, Mansfield Town and Burton Albion using the surface for their youth teams, the Impact surface was recently selected to host the England U18s as they face Korea Republic in September.

We send our huge congratulations to Rob for his amazing hard work throughout the season and during the close seasons. His commitment and dedication to his work has been recognised with a fantastic award as our pitch surface gains even more recognition!

The Groundsman of the Year awards is a nationwide competition for non-league football groundsmen.

The awards recognise the contribution of these unsung heroes, who work in all weather, often as volunteers, all year round, to make sure that thousands of matches can take place on a high standard of playing surface and with a very limited budget.

The FA has a panel of judges – professional groundsmen themselves – who look at the quality of the pitch while also taking into consideration the skills and knowledge of the groundsman, their ambitions for the pitch, the resources available, how often the pitch is used, and the amount of time they are able to work on the pitch.

Chairman Wayne Bradley on Rob’s award:

“Congratulations go out to our groundsman, who continues to provide the impact arena with a playing surface to grace the game at a testing range of both local and international levels. We are all at Alfreton Town football club, quite rightly very proud of Rob Brooks ( the groundsman) who continues to set the bar to the highest standard in playing surface presentation.”

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Tributes Paid To Gary Lewis

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Tributes Paid To Gary Lewis: Tributes have been paid to former Blackpool FC groundsman Gary Lewis, who has tragically passed away.

His son Mark has taken to Twitter to reveal the sad news, saying he and his family are “in shock”.

Lewis joined Blackpool as groundsman in May of last year, having previously spent three years with Macclesfield Town.

He left Bloomfield Road in April.

His son Mark posted on social media: “It’s with the heaviest broken heart that I have to tweet that my hero and best friend and father Gary Lewis has passed away.

“He worked for Utd, Swinton, Salford, Accy, Macclesfield and Blackpool to name a few.

“My family is in shock but so proud of our amazing man. Sleep tight Dad.”

Several Twitter users replied to the post sharing their condolences.

“We are very sad to hear this news,” the club said.

“Our thoughts and condolences go out to you and your family, Mark.

“Rest in peace, Gary.”

Robert Heys, head of partnerships at Blackpool, tweeted: “Gutted to hear the news that Gary Lewis has sadly passed away.

“It was a genuine privilege to have known and worked with him at Accrington, Macclesfield and Blackpool.

“A lovely kind-hearted man who always had a smile to share. Hope you can watch tonight. Will miss you mate.”

Paul Grimshaw replied: “Only knew him for a few months but a really top bloke.”

Simon Muggleton said: “Gary seemed a decent bloke and was always offering people to go and have a chat with him while at Blackpool. All the best to the family.”

Tom Kirk added: “Thoughts go out to you and the family he will be missed.”

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Register For Turf Maintenance Live

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Register For Turf Maintenance Live: Registration for this year’s Turf Maintenance Live event is now open. This showcase from the leading manufacturers and distributors of turf maintenance equipment is being held at the Woollam Playing Fields, Harpenden Rd in St. Albans on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 October.

This year two new companies, Agria UK and Price Turfcare (Ventrac), are joining the established group that includes Ernest Doe & Sons, GKB Machines, Husqvarna UK, Iseki UK, Martin Lishman, Rigby Taylor, Wessex International and Wiedenmann UK.

Turf Maintenance Live Registration Open

This is now the largest Turf Maintenance Live event since its inception back in 2015 with 10 companies displaying an eclectic mix of products for the turf professional. Entrance to the event is free but pre-registration is essential.

Aimed at groundsmen, greenkeepers, contractors, local authority personnel, estate managers and schools as well as amateur and professional sports clubs, the event has an emphasis on working demonstrations and up close inspection of new products for the 2020 season.

BIGGA and IOG members able claim CPD points for their attendance.

Visitors interested in attending the event and seeing the latest innovations and equipment in action can register by completing a registration form online at: https://www.turfmaintenancelive.com/ or email register@turfmaintenancelive.com .

Val Graham, spokesperson for Turf Maintenance Live said: “Emphasis will be on live working demonstrations and product situations rather than static displays, so there’s plenty of incentive to make a day of it.

“We’re indebted to the support from the STRI and our two associate sponsors – The IOG and BIGGA – both of whom will be awarding CPD points to attendees. Starting time on both days is 10.00 with free registration and bacon rolls. Lunch is provided at no charge and those who can’t make the morning can come along grab lunch and do the afternoon session. “

Follow us on Twitter: @live_turf and Facebook: Turf Maintenance Live

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Reesink To Sponsor College Cup

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Reesink To Sponsor College Cup: Toro and Reesink Turfcare are delighted to announce they will be sponsoring the SALTEX College Cup 2019, managed by the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG).

The SALTEX College Cup is a student-led sports turf challenge, testing teams of students on their turf management knowledge with paper-based questions, a presentation and live test samples. The competition held during SALTEX, the industry’s leading turf management exhibition at the NEC Birmingham from 30-31 October, presents a real challenge to its young contestants but with the promise of big rewards.

Reesink To Sponsor College Cup

To celebrate the inaugural partnership, a once-in-a-lifetime prize with Real Madrid Football Club has been planned. The winning team of the 2019 competition will travel to Spain at the end of February 2020 for an invaluable groundscare work experience placement at the club’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the run up to a major international game.

Working to raise awareness of academic rigour in turf management, the SALTEX College Cup is a fantastic way to reward those dedicated to and passionate about the industry while promoting the importance of education.

Commenting on the challenge, Dan Prest, Head of Member Services – Learning and Consultancy at the IOG, says: “This is a fantastic opportunity for turfcare students to witness the working practices at an elite venue and draw inspiration from Paul Burgess, a respected UK grounds manager. The winning team will have proven their knowledge in the competition and will also be able to add to their practical skills under the guidance of Paul and his team at Real Madrid.”

As companies dedicated to supporting the grounds sector and to encourage younger people into the industry, Toro and Reesink, an official Toro distributor in the UK, have teamed up with the IOG once again, to complement their successful partnership as sponsors of the IOG Young Board of Directors.

Reesink Turfcare’s marketing manager Rochelle Bedford says of the sponsorship: “By sponsoring the SALTEX College Cup, we are demonstrating Toro and Reesink’s long-term commitment to the development of the industry and providing valuable learning opportunities for the brightest young groundsmen out there, which we hope will help them further their careers. Young talent and excellence in the groundscare industry is where the future lies and this latest partnership with the IOG will, we hope, help ensure progression in the sector. We are delighted to be involved.”

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Kassam Pitch Delights Robinson

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Kassam Pitch Delights Robinson: Oxford United manager Karl Robinson has praised the work done this summer to make improvements in the pitch at the Kassam Stadium.

Oxford United’s home game with Peterborough United marks the surface’s competitive debut, following extensive refurbishment during the off-season.

A good pitch is essential for the way the U’s want to play and boss Robinson (pictured) went out of his way to praise the work commissioned by landlords Firoka.

He said: “The pitch at the Kassam is one of the best I’ve seen for a long time. The investment from Firoka and everybody at the stadium has been more than ever this year.

“I think they understood where we were at and what our complaints were.

“You have to give credit where it’s due and the pitch is magnificent.”

United have also made changes to one of the pitches at their training ground to make it as close to a carbon copy as possible.

He said: “The groundsman (at the Kassam) came to the training ground to test the ball bounce and the thickness of the grass.

“We do want one pitch here which is almost a replica of the Kassam.

“We can have the same dimensions and grass length, so the two groundsmen are working well together.

“It’s something the top teams do and it’s not always something that happens the further you come down.

“It’s little things that can add to us being a better club moving forward.”

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