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Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage

October 15, 2019/in Industry News, News, Press Release/by External Source

Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage: Members of Old Laurentian RFC and Old Laurentians Minis & Juniors have been left saddened after finding £1,000 of damage to their pitches. On the night of Wednesday, October 9 – October 10, vandals caused around £1,000 of damage to two out of the three pitches on the site, […]

New Appointments from AGS

October 14, 2019/in News, People, Press Release/by Jamie Bennett

New Appointments from AGS: Advance Grass Solutions is very pleased to announce the appointment of Jonathan Knowles and Matt Le Brun to their in-field technical team. Jonathan, a former greenkeeper at Rufford Park Golf & Country Club moved to Myerscough College as a lecturer in the early 2000’s, completing an array of sports turf qualifications […]

Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage

October 15, 2019/in Industry News, News, Press Release/by External Source

New Appointments from AGS

October 14, 2019/in News, People, Press Release/by Jamie Bennett

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Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage

October 15, 2019/in Industry News, News, Press Release/by External Source

Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage: Members of Old Laurentian RFC and Old Laurentians Minis & Juniors have been left saddened after finding £1,000 of damage to their pitches.

On the night of Wednesday, October 9 – October 10, vandals caused around £1,000 of damage to two out of the three pitches on the site, off Lime Tree Avenue.

The damage means that the hundreds of under 7s and under 12s players were facing not being able to play this weekend.

But Market Bosworth RFC kindly offered the use of their facilities this weekend – and until the pitches can be brought back up to standard.

Kevin Vince, chairman of the Minis and Juniors branch of the club, told the Advertiser: “Volunteers put a lot of time and effort over the summer to get these pitches to the point they are possibly the best in the county.

“And then some little scumbags come onto the pitch and cause £1,000 worth of damage in one night – we’ve been set back by months.

“I would be saying to them, ‘if you’re big enough and brave enough to cause this damage, why don’t you come up and explain to hundreds of children why they can’t play rugby on their pitches this weekend? But they won’t, because they’re cowards’.

“For a lot of the children, this is the highlight of their week.

“This mindless act of vandalism has achieved nothing. For a quick fix of laughs they have disappointed hundreds of kids.

Mr Vince praised the rugby-playing community and the residents of the town for their kind responses.

He said: “The rugby-playing community has come together with loads of people offering to help in whatever way they can, and the local community is helping out and checking CCTV.

Mr Vince said the club’s hundreds of members are all intent on catching the vandals so the police can deal with them.

He said: “Our club, when you include the families, is over 800 strong. We’re all listening and eventually one of us will hear something.

“Everyone is disgusted with this act of mindless vandalism, but we’re going to come back even stronger as a club.”

Andrew Spriggs, chairman of Old Laurentian RFC, said: “Since the incident our volunteers have been working hard to undo the damage.

“One contractor dropped everything they were doing and drove up from the Cotswolds to help.

“It’s disappointing – we try to be open to the community and encourage our neighbours on Lime Tree Avenue to come and use the grounds walk their dogs.

“We don’t want to close the grounds off to sensible people, but we are looking at having security posts and CCTV installed to deter anything like this from happening again.

“The response from the community has been marvelous.

“We’re hoping the pitches can be repaired next week.”

Mr Spriggs said there has already been some CCTV unearthed which could help with the investigation.

“We’re all going to do everything we can to see that these people are caught and brought to justice,” he added.

A spokesperson for the club took to Facebook, stating: “We have a team of volunteers who work tirelessly to keep our wonderful pitches in top condition and the impact of this will affect every single one of our players.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Warwickshire Police on 101, quoting crime ref 23/42725/19.

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New Appointments from AGS

October 14, 2019/in News, People, Press Release/by Jamie Bennett

New Appointments from AGS: Advance Grass Solutions is very pleased to announce the appointment of Jonathan Knowles and Matt Le Brun to their in-field technical team.

Jonathan, a former greenkeeper at Rufford Park Golf & Country Club moved to Myerscough College as a lecturer in the early 2000’s, completing an array of sports turf qualifications which culminated in a postgraduate doctoral degree researching the incidence and potential benefits of a symbiotic fungi that naturally inhabits turfgrass. Specifically, the endophyte.

Latterly, he has been based from home managing the apprenticeship arm of the college, visiting golf, football clubs and private schools, expanding training provision and contacts across the Midlands.

Sam Honeyborne, MD at AGS said ‘’Jonathan has been on our radar from some time and I’m very pleased that he has joined as we head into our third year. He is well known in the area, having already visited many of our existing customer base. His technical background will compliment the business and in turn offer first class product support within our added value model”.

Jonathan has written several articles into greenkeeping and sports turf related industry magazines, as well as having research work published in conference proceedings with the European Turfgrass Society.

He will be managing Nottingham, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and the West Midlands, as well as expansion into Lincolnshire.

Matt Le Brun joins in a new role as Business Development Manager (Sports Turf) with a brief to continue AGS’s progress in professional football, colleges and private schools.

Matt has worked at both manufacturer and distributor level, as well as gaining vital practical experience as a groundsman and trainer in an industry career spanning over ten years.

Phil Garrod, UK Sports Turf Manager said ‘’The sports turf division is growing from strength to strength and its vital we invest to maintain our high customer service standards as well as growing our geographical footprint. Matt is an established technical manager with a good following. His last role was all encompassing giving him the sort of experience that will allow him to develop further and support the business for years to come’’.

Matt Le Brun said ‘’I’m very excited to be joining AGS. I have kept a watchful eye on their progress in the past two years, from both an agronomic service and product development perspective. Their wide range of exclusive lines and pipeline of new technology made my decision very easy. I very much look forward to contributing to further success in years to come.’’

Advance Grass Solutions is a leading provider of agronomy services, products and customer

support throughout the UK, with loyal customers from lawncare and small bowling clubs to Ryder Cup venues and Premier League football clubs.

They provide a UK exclusive range of high-quality products including: Growth Products, Sustane Natural Fertilizers, Polyon controlled release technology, in addition to well-known UK based suppliers such as DLF Trifolium and Aquatrols. Their staff hold industry recognised qualifications such as BASIS and FACTS alongside honours degrees in sports turf, soil science and sustainable land management disciplines.

For more information on AGS or to enquire about ongoing opportunities to join the team please call 01183-914540 or email info@advancegrass.com.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage

New Appointments from AGS

Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage

New Appointments from AGS

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage

Vandals cause £1000 of pitch damage: Members of Old Laurentian RFC and Old Laurentians Minis & Juniors have been left saddened after finding £1,000 of damage to their pitches.

New Appointments from AGS

New Appointments from AGS: Advance Grass Solutions is very pleased to announce the appointment of Jonathan Knowles and Matt Le Brun to their in-field technical team.

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