Tag Archive for: Award

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.

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.

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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Groundsman Nets County Award

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Groundsman Nets County Award: A football groundsman involved in the sport for over 60 years has won a county award.

Gerry Williams, head groundsman at Collingham’s Station Road base, received several nominations for Nottinghamshire FA Groundsman Of The Year.

He has now been put forward for the national title.

“Reading comments about how people appreciate the work you put into the ground is very nice,” Williams said.

“It is hard work, especially with the number of matches we have on these pitches, but I would not be doing it if I did not enjoy it.”

Both Collingham and Newark Town play home games at Station Road in the Central Midlands League North.

Around 90 matches have been played there this season.

Ricky Stevenson, business development manager at the Nottinghamshire FA, said: “The weather has been unprecedented and it is people like Gerry who help keep football being played.

“He is one of those who work incredibly hard behind the scenes. He thoroughly deserves to be recognised.”

Williams won a Kombi line-marker and Super C paint from sponsors Fleet Line Markers.

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Rody Kilbride Wins Award

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Rody Kilbride Wins Award: The winner of the 2018 Irish Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award, sponsored by ICL and Syngenta, has been confirmed as Rody Kilbride from Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo.

For a number of years, ICL and Syngenta have been proud sponsors of the Irish Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award – which is part of the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board’s (KWETB) Greenkeeping Training Course.

Rody Kilbride Wins Award

Colman Warde, ICL Country Manager for Ireland presented Rody with his trophy and a gift voucher at Naas Golf Club, Co Kildare said: “As a company we are very proud to continue our sponsorship of this award. The training course is a fantastic opportunity which helps prepare the students for a promising future in this industry. It was great to present the award to Rody, who is a good example of enthusiastic, young greenkeepers. It’s good to see so many students interested in this course because they are the future of the industry.”

“Aisling does a tremendous job arranging the course and it’s great to see the likes of David Behan from Naas Golf Club, David Callanan from Beech Park Golf Club, Mark Kirwan from the Heritage Golf Club and Tom Carew from Craddockstown put so much time and effort into helping train these students” commented Colman.

For the duration of the 48 week course Rody was placed at Beech Park Golf Club under the watchful eye of Course Superintendent David Callanan. With the student course now complete Rody has successfully gained a full-time greenkeepers job at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Course in Co Limerick, with the newly redeveloped course, designed by Tom Fazio, due to open in April 2018.

Now in its twelfth year, the course continues to go from strength to strength, which is testament to the hard work and meticulous planning carried out by Aisling Mahon, course co-ordinator who’s commitment to nurturing the future of greenkeeping has ensured the success of the course. Aisling is delighted to have seen the course open a number of doors for aspiring greenkeepers, including full time employment, further education and oversees internships at prestigious golf courses such as Bay Hill and Pebble Beach in Ohio, USA.

Last year’s winner, Tiernan Crawford, impressed Naas Golf Club so much throughout the duration of the course that he was offered a full time greenkeeping position. He has been working in this role for the past year and is now moving to Beech Park Golf Club – a position which commences in just a couple of weeks. He intends on furthering his education and will be studying Sportsturf Science Level 6 in September 2019.

William Fitzpatrick, winner of the 2016 award, has been busy working and continuing his studies as well as becoming a first-time father. He is working full-time at Portarlington Golf Club and has just recently graduated from Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture, National Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, Dublin where he studied Sportsturf Science. William has also volunteered at a number of tournaments and is working hard to progress within the industry.

To make any enquiries about the Greenkeeping Training Course please email greenkeepingcourse@gmail.com

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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Award For Council Groundsman

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Award For Council Groundsman: An award has been presented to a member of Tendring District Council’s Open Spaces team for his work maintaining a popular cricket pitch.

Chris Russell won the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Cricket Championship Groundsman Award at the annual general meeting of the Essex Cricket Board Groundsman Association.

Chris was given the award for his work preparing pitches at Clacton Cricket Club’s Vista Road ground during the 2017 season. The pitches received top marks from a panel of umpires right across the season.

Stuart Kerrison, head groundsman at Essex County Cricket Club’s Chelmsford ground, presented Chris with his award.

Barry Dunwell, the outgoing chairman of Clacton Cricket Club, said the club was fortunate to have such a hard-working, dedicated and conscientious groundsman preparing their pitches.

“It was not a surprise that Chris received this accolade for his efforts,” he added.

Chris works at a number of recreation grounds right across the District in his role with Tendring District Council.

Trevor Mills, Open Space Manager at Tendring District Council, added his congratulations to Chris.

“We all know how hard Chris works to look after our open spaces, and his sterling efforts at Clacton Cricket Club are just one example of his year-round fine work,” he said.

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