Six Nations: How the grounds staff are preparing

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Six Nations: How the grounds staff are preparing

For many sports fans it is the most exciting time of the year. The NatWest Six Nations is a celebration of sport and while non-rugby fans can wonder at what on earth is going on – particularly at scrum time – for those in the know each inch over the gain line, or steal from a line-out is celebrated like the winning goal in the round ball game. The six stadiums used are some of the finest in all sport and the pitches, which take some of the greatest hammerings around, are more often than not immaculate.
Turf Matters has spoken to the six people responsible for creating those surfaces.

Scotland: 

Name: Jim Dawson

Role: Head Groundsman

Composition of Pitch: Desso GrassMaster

When was it laid? Spring/Summer 2014

What work will you be doing between Autumn Internationals and the Six Nations?

Over-seeding, utilising pitch lights and plenty of rest… fingers crossed!

What development or innovation has had the biggest impact on your work in the last five years?

Desso grassmaster has been a game-changer, changing all of our maintenance schedule and increasing pitch usage.

What keeps you awake at night?

Uncontrollable weather the night before a big match!

How has your job changed since you took over as Head Groundsman?

We have a bigger pitch team allowing use to undertake more detailed work both on the international pitch and training pitches. As mentioned before, the Desso has meant major changes to our maintenance and lots of learning!

What piece of equipment, yet to be invented, would make your life so much easier?

Fully automated machine to do divoting.

What is your favourite memory for a previous Six Nations Championship?

2017: Winning all three home games.

What is the best thing about a Six Nations Rugby match in your city?

Scottish passion, the fans and hopefully beating England!

What would you like to say to your fellow Six Nations Head Groundsmen?

Have a great series and enjoy the atmosphere!

 

England: 

Name: Keith Kent

Role: RFU Head Groundsman

Composition of Pitch: Desso GrassMaster

When was it laid? Summer 2012

What work will you be doing between Autumn Internationals and the Six Nations:

Depending on what the weather is doing we will cut the pitch at least once every day. Aeration is carried out to keep the top surface open in case of any heavy rain at that time of the year. The lighting rigs will be out on the pitch.

What development or innovation has had the biggest impact on your work in the last five years?

The Desso GrassmMaster pitch has changed our lives! It’s the best hybrid pitch system in the world in my humble opinion. In all of my career I have never known a pitch that can withstand so much usage.

What keeps you awake at night?

The removable paint used for logos!

How has your job changed since you took over as Head Groundsman?

The new pitch five years ago has changed my job for the better in so many ways. We host more events but it also allows me to do my second favourite job which is visiting community rugby clubs up and down the whole of England, offering advice and hopefully help to other groundsmen out there.

What piece of equipment, yet to be invented, would make your life so much easier?

A magic wand that would make the grass grow in the winter like it does in the summer. And a grass seed that grows in the dark and the cold!

What is your favourite memory for a previous Six Nations Championship?

It’s hard to pick a specific game, but perhaps France in 2015 here at Twickenham. It was a fantastic game with 12 tries in total (the final score was 55-35 to England).

What is the best thing about a Six Nations Rugby match in your city?

The whole event is something so special. The atmosphere at all of the games is amazing.

What would you like to say to your fellow Six Nations Head Groundsmen?

I wish them all a very successful tournament with good weather, great pitches and the hand of friendship to them all.

 

Italy: 

Name: Valeriano Bernardini

Role: Agronomist for CONI Servizi spa, consultant for FIGC and FIR

Composition of Pitch: Ryegrass + Bermudagrass (from November to April only as root system)

When was it laid? End of July, 2017

What work will you be doing between Autumn Internationals and the Six Nations?

Routine work and overseeding.

What development or innovation has had the biggest impact on your work in the last five years?

Growing lights.

What keeps you awake at night?

Low turf density

How has your job changed since you took over as Head Groundsman?

Worry and preoccupation.

What piece of equipment, yet to be invented, would make your life so much easier?

Possibility to easily adapt the microclimate for optimal growth of the turf.

What is your favourite memory for a previous Six Nations Championship?

Italy v France 2012.

What is the best thing about a Six Nations Rugby match in your city?

No free seat in the stadium.

What would you like to say to your fellow Six Nations Head Groundsmen?

RUN!

 

Wales:

Name: Lee Evans

Role: Head Groundsman

Composition of Pitch: Desso GrassMaster

When was it laid? September 2017

What work will you be doing between Autumn Internationals and the Six Nations?

We had a boxing event on the pitch prior to the Autumn Series. This decimated the surface, so we have had to carry out a thorough renovation immediately after the Autumn Series.

What development or innovation has had the biggest impact on your work in the last five years?

Lighting Rigs/Technology – Grass cannot survive in our stadium without supplementary lighting.

What keeps you awake at night?

Some of the events our Venue Sales Manager, tries to shoehorn into our schedule!

How has your job changed since you took over as Head Groundsman?

I have been Head Groundsman at the stadium for 14 years – the job is unrecognisable to what it was then. A portable palletised pitch with grass that used to start dying back after six weeks in the stadium – to a fantastic Desso Grassmaster stabilised surface with supplementary lighting.

What piece of equipment, yet to be invented, would make your life so much easier?

A full pitch lighting system that somehow is suspended above the pitch, no wheels and no obstacles, a pipe dream alas!

What is your favourite memory for a previous Six Nations Championship?

I have been fortunate to witness three grand slam triumphs in our stadium. They were all very special.

What is the best thing about a Six Nations Rugby match in your city?

The atmosphere in the city is something special. As a teenager I used to go to Cardiff to watch the rugby (in a pub, couldn’t get tickets). 250,00 people descend on Cardiff on a six nations rugby match.

What would you like to say to your fellow Six Nations Head Groundsmen?

Keep up the good work!

 

France:

Name: Anthony Stones

Role: Grounds Manager Stadefrance ITURF management

Composition of Pitch: Desso GrassMaster

When was it laid? December 2015 and Desso was installed January 2016

What work will you be doing between Autumn Internationals and the Six Nations?

We will have nine lighting rigs on the pitch as the stadium has no sun at this time of year. Depending on the weather we may have the undersoil heating on. Regular mowing three times per week. Two liquid fertiliser applications will be made and one granulated fertiliser application will done between the two matches that we have this year.

What development or innovation has had the biggest impact on your work in the last five years?

I have a couple of things the seegrow lighting rigs have been a massive help and the air2g2. I am also now looking at fans to help with air flow.

What keeps you awake at night?

Weather. You never stop looking at the weather.

How has your job changed since you took over as Head Groundsman?

Learning a new language since I moved out to France. The main thing to remember is that it’s a team effort and not just the headman that makes a great pitch.

What piece of equipment, yet to be invented, would make your life so much easier?

Not sure on this one. I have lots of ideas.

What is your favourite memory for a previous Six Nations Championship? England winning the tournament in my first year at Stadefrance.

What is the best thing about a Six Nations Rugby match in your city?

Atmosphere – the rugby crowds are great.

What would you like to say to your fellow Six Nations Head Groundsmen?

Good luck guys and may the weather be kind to us all.

 

Ireland:

Name: Majella Smyth

Role: Head Groundsman

Composition of Pitch:

A Desso GrassMaster Hybrid

When was it laid? It was constructed 2013

What work will you be doing between Autumn Internationals and the Six Nations?

Mininimal renovation has been done to the pitch.

What development or innovation has had the biggest impact on your work in the last five years?

Desso Grass Master Hybrid/SGL Grow Lights.

What keeps you awake at night?

Weather conditions.

How has your job changed since you took over as Head Groundsman?

Technology.

What piece of equipment, yet to be invented, would make your life so much easier?

Lighting systems that would leave no impact on the playing surface.

What is your favourite memory for a previous Six Nations Championship?

Ronan O Gara drop goal 2009.

What is the best thing about a Six Nations Rugby match in your city?

The buzz the excitement and the impacted of visiting supporters.

What would you like to say to your fellow Six Nations Head Groundsmen?

It’s a calling, not a job, plus your pitch is now for international scrutiny when it goes live.

The World’s Best

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The World’s Best: Laurence Gale goes back to university to discover what has made Loughborough the world’s best university for sport

Loughborough has been named the best sporting university in the world in the global QS higher education league table. It is actually the first time the annual QS World University Rankings by subject have included a list of the world’s best places to study sports-related subjects and Loughborough ranked joint-first with the University of Sydney, Australia.

This is a fantastic testament but fully justified by all the hard work done by both staff and graduates over the last 60 years. The ethos of the university brings together exceptional athletes, facilities, coaching and research expertise with extensive partnerships with major sporting organisations, such as Sport England, RFU, ECB to name a few.

 

Loughborough won the title in recognition of its unparalleled role in the triumph of the British Olympic and Paralympic teams at Rio 2016.

Over 80 students, graduates and Loughborough-linked athletes travelled to Rio to participate in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In the Olympic competition they secured 12 medals, including five golds, and if Loughborough University was a country they would have finished 17th on the medal table. Similarly during the Paralympic competition Loughborough-linked athletes secured a further 22 medals, signifying that Loughborough would have finished 10th in the Paralympics medal table if they were a nation.

With a total of plus 15,000 students on campus, coupled with around 400 performance student athletes, the university is a busy place to be during term times.

The World’s BestA total of 71% of students at Loughborough University regularly participate in sport at least once a week – Sport England Higher Education Sport Participation and satisfaction Survey for 2015/16.

From alumni to collaborative partners, and organisations that use campus as their HQ, Loughborough University is associated with a number of household names.

Some of the most celebrated names in sport have studied at Loughborough including Sebastian Coe, Paula Radcliffe, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson and Sir Clive Woodward.

Loughborough University is home to the country’s largest concentration of world-class facilities across a wide range of sports, they include an indoor athletics centre and outdoor stadium, sports halls and all-weather pitches, a 50-metre swimming pool, squash, badminton and netball courts, an indoor tennis centre and outdoor courts, and state of the art fitness centres.

The grounds and gardens are maintained by the university’s own in-house grounds maintenance team consisting of 12 full time groundsmen and  20 full time gardeners of which two are fully trained  arborists. These teams are supervised by Managers William Relf (25 years’ service) who oversees all the sports facilities while Karen Setchell (32 years’ service) manages the gardening teams.

Will and Karen took over the running of the department in 2016 when the previous Estates Manager Mark Freeman retired.

The sports grounds team are split into three teams of four, one solely looking after all the Cricket facilities on campus, whereas the other two teams are split by geographical areas and cover a multitude of sports facilities.

The gardening team consists of five working teams, each with their own areas to manage and maintain. The Arborist team (one man and one woman) maintains all mature trees, two heritage woodlands and plantations on the site.

As for natural grass pitches the university provides thirteen senior natural grass pitches – six football, four rugby, one American football and one lacrosse. The pitches are renovated and topdressed every year using compatible sand dressings, applying between 60 and 100 tonnes per pitch.

Loughborough is also the home of the ECB National Cricket Academy and boasts some of the best cricket practice and playing facilities in the world.

The facilities include: Two natural grass cricket squares and outfields, sixteen outdoor cricket natural grass net areas (on Ongar clay), eleven artificial wickets (five outdoor and six indoor) Complete full size indoor net areas with full bowlers run up and wicket keeper area.

The university also provides some of the finest indoor and outdoor athletics facilities in the country. This includes the indoor High Performance Athletics Centre (HIPAC) enabling athletes to train and perform in the best environment available.

A new dedicated Athletics throwing arena is currently under construction and will be ready in the new year.

Tennis is exceptionally well catered for with 17 artificial courts of which, three are overhead irrigated American Fast Dry outdoor clay courts.  Three outdoor acrylic courts, Four indoor acrylic courts, four Plexipave indoor acrylic courts, plus two tarmac courts. The World’s Best

The university also has several full size artificial pitches on campus, all having different playing characteristics and maintenance requirements.

In the past many artificial surfaces were sold on the back of maintenance free advertising. This is just not the case at Loughborough. Will and his team spends nearly as much time on their artificial surfaces as they do on natural surfaces. The university has spent a lot of money investing in specialist brushing and vacuum machinery to keep these surfaces clean.

As for the tennis courts these are brushed daily while the American fast dry courts are again brushed daily, the frequency being dependent on use. This will usually be twice a day when busy. Generally, they are dragmatted with a rubber dragmat across the line of play, followed by another with a brush in the line of play.

They are then watered, using the pop up automatic irrigation system, to damp down the clay ready for play. It usually takes about an hour and half for one man to complete all the daily work on the three clay courts.

The courts also require topdressing twice a year, regular supplementary dressings throughout the season to maintain levels and a regular rolling programme.

A recent visit enabled me to meet up with Will and walk around the campus to see some of the latest industry developments going on. Will was keen to show me the new reinforced cricket pitch trials, where a number of his existing Onga and Boughton loam pitches and net areas have been sown with some artificial fibres simulating a SIS Grass/Desso style hybrid pitch system.

The results have been amazing with a dramatic reduction in wear and foothole damage, while ball bounce and turn has not been adversely affected.  Two colours of yarn have been tried, a green one and a brown one to see which one is ascetically pleasing to coaches and players.  It will be interesting to see how these pitches respond and recover from their end of season renovations. Will also said, that many of the players had not even noticed these fibres.

We then went on to see another ECB backed trial, that began last June, which saw three drop-in pitches installed into the universities cricket square.

Each pitch is contained in three steel trays, the object of the project is to be able to transport and use the pitch in a large capacity stadium, thus having the ability to play a cricket match at a different venue. Early signs are good, the 200mm deep trays are performing well. It is now a case of progressing to the next stage. Transporting and installing the pitches at a national stadium, and then play an international match on them?

Will was then keen for me to see the new throwing arena being built, that will house an outdoor covered throwing facility to accommodate javelin, discus and hammer athletes. This purpose built training centre will enable athletes to train all year round. The World’s Best

Just driving around the campus, made me realise how big and busy this place is, wherever you looked, there was a different sport activity going on.

One of the busiest times for Will and his staff is during late spring, when they have to change over from a winter sporting calendar into the summer feast of sports. This work also includes having to undertake spring renovations on some of the pitches.

Renovations are carried out on a rotational/need basis, and generally involves a programme of work that involves scarifying, aeration, topdressing and overseeding with some pitches getting a few weeks rest and recuperation.

Having a large fleet of machinery helps enormously, the ability to get around the campus quickly is paramount, all the teams are given a John Deere Gator to help transport themselves, machinery, tools and materials. Will also has a modern cutting fleet of ride on mowers to help cut the grass efficiently. A laser guided Kombi line marking system also saves time when marking pitches on a weekly basis.

The university have also invested in their own sprayers and aeration equipment to ensure they are able to carry out this work promptly and when they choose too, instead of waiting on contractor time frames.

As ever, Loughborough is definitely up there with the best Universities when it comes to managing and maintaining its estate, however, with so many top sports performers based at Loughborough expectations will always be high and the main driver for the grounds team to deliver top class sport facilities.

Inside the Webb

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Inside the Webb: Scott MacCallum catches up with Geoff Webb, the IOG’s Chief Executive and the man who steered Saltex to its new Birmingham home.

With two successful editions of the new NEC Birmingham-based Saltex under his belt you would think that Geoff Webb would be relaxed heading into the third version of the new Saltex. Not a bit of it.

“No, the short answer is no.” Is Geoff’s response to the assumption that there must be less stress now than there was in the lead up two years ago.

“Knowing that the success or failure of the show rests heavily on your shoulders and that the responsibility lies with me means that I’d love the answer to be yes. But it is no.”

Inside the Webb

It is that sort of honesty and commitment to ensuring that each Show is an upgrade on the one before which means that Saltex is in very good hands.

The decision to move from its long-standing home at Royal Windsor Racecourse at the beginning of September each year to the NEC in Birmingham at the beginning of November, was not one taken lightly by the IOG Board but they also took the decision backed by evidence of a downturn in attendance at Windsor and an underlying feeling that perhaps the Show had run its course in that little corner of Berkshire.

“I do think that the move (to NEC Birmingham) has proven to be a wise decision and I also think that it has elevated the grounds care sector and given us a Show that people seem to like.

“It is in the middle of the country with good transport links, while the new date seems to have fitted in much better with visitors’ schedules. It must also be recognised that we are never going to keep everyone happy but I do think that the endorsement has been the size of the exhibition itself which has grown year on year and visitors are coming back.”

Outside of expansion in exhibitor and visitor numbers, identifying the success of a Show can be very much a subjective thing but, prior to moving success criteria were identified. Judging by the success of the first two editions most of those boxes must surely have been ticked?

“Very much so. In fact, we are ahead of expectation of where we are to be honest. But the key thing is never to be complacent. We work on the basis that we are driven by improvement so at the end of every Show we go through and analysis everything. We look at visitor returns, we look at exhibitor returns, we pick up on issues and try to find a way to improve on them. That’s the responsibility we have got.”

And it seems to be an effective strategy with the 2017 Saltex going to break through the 300 exhibitor barrier which represents a year on year improvement while we are anticipating something like a 15% growth in visitor numbers as well.”

So what other elements go towards a successful Show?

“It’s a whole host of things. I think it’s the feel of the Show. The judge and jury on whether we’ve got it right or wrong is the general public and their reaction, thanks to social media, can be pretty much immediate.

“The first thing for us, prior to moving to Birmingham, was to manage successfully the transformation of the Show, which, let’s not forget, had been outdoors for 33 years in a row. There were a number of doubters, while a lot of other people stayed on the fence and more can along to the Show out of curiosity in year one, less so in year two.”

With those doubters having to reappraise their views the new look Saltex is offering much on many fronts.

“We’ve added value with attractions and features not least the wealth of products and information you will see and pick up at the event. We’ve also got the Industry Awards which sold out last year and look like being a complete sell out before the event this year. That’s 800 people and an event of which we are immense proud.”

Having spent a great deal of time reviewing feedback for all the Saltex stakeholders what tweaks have been carried out to improve the Show experience?

“Our team manages the transition of people going to the event and we have ring fenced the car park charges so that’s not going to rise, which is happening at other Shows. We’ve also got that discounted for IOG members. We’ve also discounted ground travel costs to get to the NEC and if you go to the Virgin website. We are also working with the NEC about improving the catering and refreshment facilities,” explained Geoff.

“Those are the logistical aspects to the Show but there are other areas within who learn by experience and being at the event. For example if the first year every theatre was outdoor but one of the issues we had was noise – either presenting of listening. So for the second year we sound proofed, and closed off the rooms but then we got feedback that it took away some of the atmosphere. So this year we are opening the theatres up again but we’ve got wireless headphones which we will give to all the delegates so that they will be able to hear the speaker. People will turn up put on the headphones and listen to the presentation while the exhibition is going off around them.”

That’s a prime example of looking at something which was perceived to be a downside and finding a solution.

“We are also having our own Show TV channel for the first time as well and will be carrying out pnm the spot interviews. It will also be the second year of the College Cup which proved to be such a hit last year and we have more colleges involved this year. Added to that, and again for the first time, we have an Advice Clinic for those interested in career development which will be managed by Frank Newberry.”

One of the main selling points for the new location for Saltex was the opportunities it created to open the doors to many more people to get to the Show.

“A really good example of this is Paul Burgess who, everyone knows is at Real Madrid and last year he came to me and said ‘This is great, Geoff. I’ve flown in from Madrid on a direct flight, got off the plane and walked to my hotel within 10 minutes and five minutes after that I was in the Show.’

“We had representatives from 43 countries last year. Before that it was predominately a UK-based Show. I do believe that Saltex is probably the largest sports turf ground management Show anywhere in the world.”

Hearing what Saltex 2017 has in store for us I don’t know about you but I think Geoff is being a little too harsh on himself if he feels as stressed now as he did two years ago before the first NEC Birmingham-based Saltex.

I’m not telling you to sit back and relax but just give yourself a bit of credit for two very successful Shows and the knowledge that Show Three looks well set to continue a very positive trend for Saltex.

Whatever The Customer Wants

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Whatever the Customer Wants: That legendary American industrialist, Henry Ford, who brought automotive transportation to the masses, was famous for many things, among them one of the best known quotes of the 20th century.

The Model T Ford was the car which gave the American public the ability to travel and Henry’s quote was: “A customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.”

Whatever The Customer Wants

A Dutch industrialist from the 21st century, Leo van Loen, Managing Director Trilo, also has a quote: “A customer can have anything he wants.”

As simple as that.

Leo has introduced a new production strategy at the small but progressive, Trilo plant which has revolutionised the way in which the company operates which now offers a mind-numbing number of opportunities to its customers.

A customer can, indeed, have anything her or she wishes and, while choice can sometimes bring a myriad of headaches, in this instance it couldn’t be simpler.

The on-line configurator enables customers to go on line and create the exact machine they need, following a path through the options and preventing anything emerging from the end process which is not workable, or the most cost effective way in which to fulfil the task required.

With support, if required, from, in the UK, Support Managers Jon Proffit and Jeremy Vincent, the process could not be more simple.

“Ah”, I hear from those more used to the workings of the manufacturing sector, “but how long will you have to wait for your bespoke piece of equipment?”

Well, that’s the great thing. A computerised tracking system means that every phone call, from the initial tentative enquiry, through to “Yup, we’ve had a meeting and decided to order.” Is tracked and a percentage of the chances of the order coming through given from 10% through to 90% – there can always be a slip between cup and lip! – so preparations can be made for that order’s completion in the shortest possible time.

A one million euro restructuring of the plant is currently underway, and due to be completed by March. This will bring added benefits to and see increases in efficiency and bring the available working man hours up from 50,000 per annum to 60,000 per annum thus reducing lead times, for a new, built-to-spec machine, to just three weeks.

It has meant that Trilo no longer need to hold huge amounts of stock as, because every order or potential order, is on the system, they only hold, or produce, what they need to meet those orders.

Whatever The Customer Wants

This has also been made possible by the radical, and some may have said risky, decision made by Commercial Director, Peter van Mispelaar, to require payment in advance for the machines.

The rationale being that the machine has been built to a specification which is fit for a particular customer and unlikely to be perfect for another customer and therefore not as saleable. That new approach has been embraced by customers and meant that Trilo now doesn’t suffer from the cash flow issues which can impact upon so many business as they await payment to cover costs already incurred.

To the machines themselves. Well, they’re pretty good too. Trilo specialises in vacuum brushes and blowers which are just as at home in the urban roads and pavements of the city as the wide open and wooded parks and golf course.

The company was launched by Leo’s father and two uncles – hence Tri Lo – and Leo grew up working in the, at the time much smaller plant. With his future apparently mapped out he went to university to learn the business skills which would complement the engineering  capabilities provided by the rest of the family, including his own brother.

Just as he emerged from university armed with the skills to take Trilo to the next level the company was sold and rather than carry on as one of the family dynasty Leo continued to work for Trilo under the new ownership.

Ultimately Leo took the heart-breaking decision to leave the company which had been a part of his life for such a long time.

“When I closed the door behind me for the very last time I thought that was it. I would never be back,” explained Leo, as he hosted a group of UK-based trade press, recently.

However, some of the reasons that Leo felt uncomfortable working under the new management came to a head and Trilo went bust.

It was at that point that Leo and Peter put together a business proposition which saw them return to Trilo as the new owners and since then the company has not looked back.

Leo’s business acumen, coupled with his intense devotion to a company which is literally in his blood, it is making huge strides and its innovative manufacturing and sophisticated on-line systems are pointing to a very bright future for the company.

So while Leo may still be in Henry Ford’s shadow when it comes to coming up with memorable quotes, he is well ahead of the great man when it comes to giving the customer what he or she wants.

Laurence Gale Makes A Return Visit To The STRI

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Research at its Best: Laurence Gale popped up to Yorkshire to make a return visit to the STRI

It has been a few years since I last visited the STRI trials grounds, so it was pleasing and very rewarding to have the opportunity to attend one of the recent STRI Research open days last week and catch up with many of the world’s leading Agronomists and Sport Turf Professionals who work and help deliver a wide range of high profile sport surfaces. Laurence Gale Makes A Return Visit To The STRI

The STRI Group incorporates the following global businesses; STRI UK, STRI Australia, STRI China, SportsTurf Consultants (Melbourne), Aspire Sports Turf (Qatar), Landsafe International and SWD Systems.

Their specialist consultants provide quality, bespoke and cost ffective solutions for the design, construction and management of sports surfaces all around the world.

The STRI have successfully masterminded the installation of pitches used for the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championships and Olympic Games along with working with a varied list of clients that include The R&A, Wimbledon Championships, Sport England and the RFU.

In addition, The STRI manages multiple research projects and product trials each year, designed specifically to suit each individual sports surface.

The aim of the day was to invite a wide audience of Sports Turf Professionals to see some of the latest trials being undertaken at their trial grounds in Bingley.

Laurence Gale Makes A Return Visit To The STRI

The STRI works with a number of companies each year on Research & Development (R&D) projects for the sports turf industry and this year invited a selection of these companies to support this event

Taking part this year were Bayer, Farmura an Aquatrols Company, ICL, Sherriff Amenity, Stadia Pitch and Syngenta. With over 150 attendees, the event was spilt into seven work stations, enabling small groups to hear about the specific trials that where being undertaken.

Station A, gave us a glimpse into the future of pallatised stadium pitches, there have been a number of these systems around for many years, however, they were often prone to damage when being moved and quite a logistic problem time wise, taking several days to move in and out of the stadiums.

The STRI have been working very closely with STADIAPITCH for a number of years, looking at ways of developing a better pallatised system with the aim to turn non-match days into potential revenue generating events. This has only been made possible by designing and extensively researching key technologies to ensure a pitch can be moved and stored in under ten hours and when brought back into the stadium it is ready for play very quickly.

Station B was showing us a set of Bayer Cropscience trials with Dr Colin Mumford explaining the differences between a programmed preventative approach to disease control and a conventional approach, which often tends to rely on curative or early curative action.

Laurence Gale Makes A Return Visit To The STRI

Station C Demonstrated the versatility and innovation of Drone technologies now being embraced by the STRI with Sophie Vukelic their ecological consultant talking about the services they can offer clients in terms of course design, management and maintenance.

Station D Was led by ICL s Henry Bechelet Turf and Landscape – Technical Sales Manager UK & Ireland as always Henry delivered a passion presentation of the results of the nutrition trial undergoing at Bingley.

Station E saw Syngenta’s Technical Manager, Marcela Munoz, give an interesting insight to their seed trials being undertaken at Bingley.

Every seed counts when it comes to restoring playing surface quality on golf courses or getting stadium pitches established and stable for the new season. Typically there are now greater expectations for turf managers to achieve excellent turf surfaces, with shorter intervals in which to achieve it.

Station F showed Sherriff Amenities trial on a targeted approach to Disease control.

The objective of the Sherriff Amenity trial is to investigate the efficacy of using carefully selected non- fungicidal products; alone and in combination with Instrata Elite against the development of anthracnose disease.

The two non-fungicidal products where E2 Pro PhosRite and E-Gypsum Flo both shown to have beneficial effects on both plants and soil, the trail is to evaluate which combination of these products gives you the best resistance to anthracnose disease.

Station G Farmura and Aquatrols Company trials on the biodegration of organic matter and thatch using a novel enzyme system.

The objective of this two year trial is to determine the effect of the enzyme on thatch accumulation and reduction of soil water repellency alone or when co applied with an Aquatrols soil surfactant under environmental conditions typical of northern Europe.