Tag Archive for: Award

SCH Sponsor SALTEX Award

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SCH Sponsor SALTEX Award: SCH (Supplies) Ltd have proudly attended and exhibited at SALTEX for 33 years, and during this time the event has helped our company thrive. We feel that it’s time to give back to one of the main contributors of our success, and are doing so by sponsoring the Best Managed Artificial Surface award.

SCH has had its best year so far, and we’ve ramped up production to keep up with demand. Being a small company, every member of staff is important to keep production going at full pace. To fulfil our customer obligations at this exceptionally busy time, we’ve decide to keep our key members of staff on site to ensure products continue to reach customers without delay. It is due to this that we will not be keeping stand space at SALTEX this year. It’s been a difficult decision to make after 33 years, but we believe it to be the correct one.

SCH Sponsor SALTEX Award

SALTEX is the only show that SCH has a presence at, and it is very important to us because we do not employ any outside sales representation. The show is our main vehicle for speaking to people face to face and showcasing our products. It provides a focal point for the company and prompts us to consider the direction that the industry is taking, which in turn informs the decisions we make regarding the development of new machinery.

We’re delighted with the opportunity to sponsor the Best Managed Artificial Surface award, which allows us to continue our uninterrupted 33 years at SALTEX. It gives us all – especially managing director Andrew Rodwell – the chance to catch up with old friends and new, and we value the fact that we will be getting referrals all through the year as a direct result of SALTEX.

As manufacturers of both real and artificial pitch care machinery, the choice of award was an easy one to make, and we are delighted to sponsor this prestigious award. Despite not keeping stand space this year, we are delighted to give back to the event and to be involved.

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Andover Groundsman Wins Award

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Andover Groundsman Wins Award: A groundsman is celebrating receiving a national award, fending off competition from over 650 rivals across the country.

Now retired Andover Town FC groundsman Chris White is celebrating after winning the FA National Groundsman of the Year competition for the 2017/18 season.

Andover Groundsman Wins Award

The awards ceremony took place at St George’s Park National Football Centre, the home of the England squads.

Speaking after the presentation, Chris said: “I am very surprised, honoured and so proud to have won the award. It is true recognition of what can be achieved at a grass roots level on a tiny budget but with lots of time and care.

“I was very pleased to represent not only Andover Town but also the Sydenham’s Wessex League.

“Hopefully I’ve left a legacy on which the club can build and a ground that others can aspire too.”

Following his retirement from the Portway at the end of June this year, Chris joined the Ground Grading team of the Sydenham’s Wessex League which is responsible for monitoring ground standards across all clubs in that league.

Andover Town FC also received a financial reward for Chris’s efforts from competition sponsors, Budweiser.

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Edgar Street’s Award Winners

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Edgar Street’s Award Winners: Ben Bowen, head groundsman at Edgar Street, has received an accolade for his dedication and effort in keeping the pitch in pristine condition.

His ‘dedication and hard work’ saw Bowen and his Highground Maintenance team clinch third place in the Southern League Groundsman of the Year award last week.

Edgar Street's Award Winners

The last 12 months has seen the pitch covered deep in snow, subject to a deluge of rain and starved of natural water during the summer months.

Despite this all of the club’s Southern league fixtures were played on their original planned dates last season.

However, it was the televised FA Cup home tie against Fleetwood Town which had St George’s Park talking during the presentation day.

“If they knew Herefordians they would know that if ever something major comes about we all chip in,” said Bowen who attended the awards alongside Ben Millward and Morgan Lewis.

“Every game there is pressure as every game is huge and everything evolves around the pitch. If we can’t get the game on everything else suffers including the revenue.

“But the Fleetwood match was panic stations on the Monday morning and I knew how big that game was for the club and the big revenue involved. “I was quite speechless by the number of volunteers when I got to Edgar Street I just thought ‘how have we done this?”

Bowen arrives on a matchday at 6am to mow the pitch and volunteers at the ground until 7pm at night in addition to his contracted work for the club.

The Edgar Street pitch is mowed three or four times a week and fertilised.

“I’m called head groundsman but have a team of boys behind me and the force of volunteers,” added Bowen.

“Throughout the match I watch the ball the whole game and keep a diary so on Monday morning I know what to do.

“I might need to cut the grass shorter or see an area that needs more watering. I have brought that down with me from league one and two and treat the pitch as that standard.

“I know what the Edgar Street pitch can do and how she can alter. At the moment it’s not right in my eyes with the drainage lines which is down to the weather and come October it will be a totally different pitch.

“When it goes right I can just sit back and monitor it but when the pitch goes wrong I can be a grumpy bugger and one slight bobble can do my head in.”

Bowen’s nephew is Hull City midfielder Jarrod Bowen and the groundsman feels he wants to help the club in return for the help they gave him.

“I personally want to stick my head on the line for manager Pete Beadle because of what he did for Jarrod as he didn’t have to,” added Bowen.

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FA’s Groundsman Award Winners

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FA’s Groundsman Award Winners: It’s that time of the year when the FA hold their Groundsman of the Year Awards, and five clubs from the three National League divisions won awards.

Aldershot Town’s Colin Wilson was the overall winner as he kept the EBB surface is exceptional condition.

FA's Groundsman Award Winners

He not only did he received a trophy he also secured prize money of £12,500 to be spent on equipment.

Other award winners were Charlie Kerr from Dartford, Curzon Ashton’s Nick Wild, Daniel Hunter and Declan Robinson of Boreham Wood.

FC United of Manchester’s Graham Byrne was also honoured by the FA, with the support of award backers Budweiser.

Geoff Terrell, the chairman of the FA Facilities Committee, said: “Together we recognise the valuable contribution ground staff make up and down the country in all winds and weather.

“This was truly brought home when a Q&A session lead by the Head Groundsman from Wembley and St George’s Park discussed the trials and tribulations of the recent hot weather.

“This summer has been a testament to their fortitude and experience in ensuring teams have a good surface to play on.”

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Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award

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Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award: The groundsman at Kingsbridge Rugby Club has been awarded the regional round of the Mitsubishi Volunteer of the Year.

Mike Shute, Kingsbridge Rugby Club, has won the regional round of the awards, which Mitsubishi and the Rugby Football Union organise to acknowledge the great work done by volunteers within the rugby community.

Groundsman Wins Volunteer Award

Mike has been a groundsman at KRFC for about twenty years, during that time he has used his own tractor to carry out the heavier side of the ground maintenance which includes; verti draining, earth-quaking and slit seeding.

He has also often been supported by having the use of machinery from KD Plant when bigger machines are required, and aggregates from his employer Jeremy Bishop Haulage.

Members and supporters of the rugby club will agree that the pitches have been improving year on year, there have even been comments made that they actually resemble a bowling gree!

This year with the dry summer we have had, this would normally have been a challenge to renovate the pitches but due to the bore hole installed two years ago the pitches have been irrigated since May and look in fine fettle. David Jarvis has been helping Mike to make sure that the pitches are watered and cut regularly.

Mike took two weeks of his own holiday in May this year to install some extra drainage on the main pitch and complete the annual pitch maintenance work.

He can be found at the club every Saturday morning, all year round, along with the small team ready to keep the rugby grounds in great condition be that match days or through the summer.

For the next round of the competition on Friday, September 7, Mike has been invited to a black tie dinner at Twickenham Stadium – England Rugby Headquarters.

He will be in competition with 42 other regional winners across the UK for the overall prize which is the use of any Mitsubishi vehicle for the next twelve months.

Kingsbridge Rugby Club wishes Mike the best of luck with the competition and greatly appreciates all the hard work he continues to puts in.

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Reesink Award Winners Announced

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Reesink Award Winners Announced: Reesink Turfcare is delighted to announce the winners of its Aftermarket Dealer Awards. The awards recognise Outstanding Performances in the three areas of Service, Parts and Skills, as well as recognising an overall Dealer of the Year for ‘Excellence in Customer Support’.

In keeping with its Service Level Agreement (SLA), which benchmarks great customer service, Reesink awards those dealers achieving the best scores, rated on quarterly Key Performance Indicators (KPI), within each of the three sections, while the Dealer of the Year Award combines the KPI scores from all three.

Reesink Award Winners Announced

The winners are: Outstanding Performance in Service goes to Redtech in Coventry, while Lloyd Ltd in Carlisle excelled in Skills, and Revill Mowers in Gloucestershire in Parts. The coveted Dealer of the Year award has two joint winners: Cheshire Turf Machinery in Stockport and Revill Mowers in Gloucestershire.

The runners-up are: Russells Groundcare in Yorkshire for both Parts and Service, and Oliver Landpower in Kings Langley for Skills.

Ever since Reesink adopted the principles of a customer service level agreement to set a baseline standard for after-sales customer support in 2015, its strategy has been to ensure that it delivers strong customer service with all its business partners, says David Jackman, Reesink’s aftermarket manager: “We’re looking to continually improve on our customer experience after a sale completes, and our Service Level Agreement outlines the core customer service standards, goals and considerations adopted by all our Authorised Service and Dealer Locations, which helps to earn the loyalty of our customers.

“Part of this extensive remit are the awards, which give us a standard set of common goals, targets and values that can be shared and promoted to the end user, benefitting customer retention and business growth across our dealer network. As we expected it would be, this has been met with great enthusiasm by our dedicated dealers and has done a fantastic job of driving the aftermarket business forward.

Reesink Award Winners Announced

“We’re delighted to be able to recognise the winners and runners-up of these awards, which not only provide a snapshot of each dealers’ performance with us but also our support for them. Overall, the major benefit of this process is the benefit it brings to the end customer, which is what we’re all in it for.”

 And it’s certainly an approach that has worked with Reesink having been recognised by The Toro Company for its outstanding performance in Parts, Service and Technical Training in the past.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Family Business Wins Award

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Family Business Wins Award: Small family business, Clearwater Pond & Lake Management, has earned the prestigious title of 2018 Otterbine Contractor of the Year.

The Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire-based team of four achieved the highest Otterbine sales figures by a considerable margin this year thanks to a passion for the brand, a drive to succeed, and support from Otterbine and its distributor Reesink Turfcare.

Clearwater owner, Tim Soane, says: “We are delighted to have won the award. It wasn’t without hard work, but selling such great quality products really helps. I think when you believe in Otterbine as much as we do, you’re half way towards being a successful contractor.

“A mention has to go out to Otterbine’s Reg Varney, Reesink’s Pete Newton, and Caroline Gilmore and Kevin Denton from the Reesink Parts department for all their support. We couldn’t do it without their help – the latter especially, as they ensure we receive the correct orders on time.”

When delivering high levels of customer service, Reesink’s back-up support is another helping hand that is, Tim says, ‘second-to-none’: “Knowing help is always on hand gives us and our customers great peace of mind. Add the invaluable knowledge we gained from Otterbine water management and product training courses to that, and we can confidently deliver smooth projects from start to finish.”

Reesink’s National Sales Representative for Otterbine, Pete Newton, comments: “Clearwater is incredibly deserving of this year’s award. It is a delight to work with them and reassuring to know how invested they are in the Otterbine brand. We hope our close partnership continues for many years to come.”

Clearwater’s highlight installation of year was at wedding venue Colshaw Hall in Over Peover, near Knutsford in Cheshire. Tim recalls: “The customer wanted a fountain in their lake for aesthetic reasons, providing a striking backdrop for wedding photographs. They have been delighted with the result. Then again, I haven’t had a single customer who hasn’t!”

As far as sales trends go, he notes: “The fountain units are always popular because they look so good. The bigger the better, they really capture the customers’ attention.”

For more information on Otterbine aerators and aerating fountains, contact Reesink Turfcare on 01480 226948, or visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Groundsman Wins Award Hat-Trick

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Groundsman Wins Award Hat-Trick: Kidderminster Cricket Club’s top groundsman has been presented with his hat-trick trophy for producing the best ground in the Birmingham and District Premier League for the third year in a row.

Making the presentation to Chris Longmore in front of captain Neil Pinner and the rest of the team, Birmingham and District Premier league president Robin Viner said: “Chris is so consistent and Kidderminster is very lucky to have a groundsman with such knowledge and dedication.”

Groundsman Wins Award Hat-Trick

Mr Longmore, who has been associated with the Chester Road outfit for 58 years, said he was “delighted” to the win the award again.

He added: “There is hardly a day without cricket at Kidderminster this season and, as always, to make that work requires an awful lot of time as well as investment.”

Mr Longmore’s hard work was acknowledged by the club, which presented him the Denis Jones Award for outstanding contribution behind the scenes in 2017 at the annual presentation last autumn.

The league’s umpires also marked the club’s 1st XI team fifth in the Fair Play table for 2017.

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Watford Pitch Wins Award

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Watford Pitch Wins Award: The Premier League Grounds Team of the Season award for the 2017/18 campaign has gone to Watford.

The club’s head groundsman, Scott Tingley, and his team won the award for the pitch at Vicarage Road after assessment from the Premier League’s Playing Surfaces Committee and the independent assessor Dr Stephen Baker from the Sports Turf Research Institute.

Watford Pitch Wins Award

The award is based on a number of factors including marks from referees and match delegates, usage of the pitch and the environmental conditions, an end-of-season pitch quality assessment and the resources and resource management at each club.

“The award is testament to the pitch’s current condition, the result of much hard work and dedication from the club’s grounds team,” Scott Duxbury, the club chairman, said.

Tingley and his team will receive the award on 5 May, at Watford’s match with Newcastle United.

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EFL Award Winners Announced

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EFL Award Winners Announced: The EFL has confirmed the winners of the Grounds Team of the Season award for 2017/18 in each of the three divisions.

The awards recognise the importance of the quality of pitches for professional football and acknowledge the clubs and their ground staff who consistently produce the best playing surfaces in the EFL.

EFL Award Winners Announced

In the Sky Bet Championship, Middlesbrough win the award for producing a perfect pitch at the Riverside this season. Fulham and Nottingham Forest are both highly commended.

In Sky Bet League One, Rotherham United’s ground staff take top honours for the excellent surface at the New York Stadium. Blackburn Rovers and Milton Keynes Dons are highly commended.

The award for Grounds Team of the Season in Sky Bet League Two this year goes to Wycombe Wanderers, while the ground staff of Chesterfield and Swindon Town are highly commended.

Championship
Winner – Middlesbrough
Highly Commended – Fulham
Highly Commended – Nottingham Forest

League One
Winner – Rotherham United
Highly Commended – Blackburn Rovers
Highly Commended – Milton Keynes Dons

League Two
Winner – Wycombe Wanderers
Highly Commended – Chesterfield
Highly Commended – Swindon Town

The EFL’s Grounds Team of the Season Awards are determined initially using marks from referees and away managers for each Sky Bet EFL game and are then followed by detailed pitch inspections and a review of management operations.

These visits were carried out by Dr Stephen Baker, Head of Sports Surface Technology at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI).

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