Tag Archive for: decade

A decade of grassroots pitch improvement

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A decade of grassroots pitch improvement: Over the last ten years, the GMA’s skilled team of regional pitch advisors has been working with grassroots sports clubs to raise the standards of sports surfaces and train volunteers.

In that time, almost 50,000 pitches have been improved across grassroots football, cricket, rugby league and union.

A decade of grassroots pitch improvement

A decade of grassroots pitch improvement

The programme has worked with more than 12,500 clubs and 14,500 volunteers.

The Pitch Advisory Service, formerly the Grounds and Natural Turf Improvement Programme, was launched in 2014 and is funded by Sport England and the Football Foundation, working in association with the FA, ECB, RFL and RFU.

Jason Booth leads the Pitch Advisory Service, he says: “This is a brilliant example of sporting bodies working together to raise the standards of sports surfaces and the understanding of sports turf management practices among grassroots sports clubs across England.

“There has never been more pressure on pitches. Whether that’s the effect of more extreme weather caused by climate change, or more demand as a greater and more diverse range of people want to play sport.

“We all want more people playing – it brings so many health and wellbeing benefits. To enable that, we need to make sure our grassroots pitches are properly maintained – grounds are literally the foundation of sport. We need to recognise that, value grounds teams, and invest in them.”

One of the clubs that have benefitted from the Pitch Advisory Service is the Ashton Bears Rugby Club in Wigan.

The rugby league outfit, which hosts a total of 25 men’s, women’s, and children’s teams, had been hampered by an unstable pitch that frequently became waterlogged throughout the season.

“Before support from the Pitch Advisory Service, our pitches would regularly have to close for player safety. One surface was only playable for three months of the year” says Club Secretary, Mark Webster.

The Pitch Advisory Service team carried out an assessment and made a number of recommendations, including reducing the height of the cut to 40mm from 70mm and to increase the cutting frequency to weekly. Decompaction, sand topdressing, weed killing, and overseeding were also recommended. Funding was secured to install a drainage solution for the pitches.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the support we received. It’s truly transformed our facilities at Bear Park. We now have some of the most resilient pitches in the area – staying open when others have had to close” Mark continues.

“Our girls’ teams can play concurrently and both men’s open-age teams can play at home. We host up to eight games on a Sunday. We’ve also been able to expand to create new women’s teams, something which previously was impossible due to the lack of capacity on the old pitches.”

Building on the success so far, the Pitch Advisory Service continues to offer support to grassroots clubs.

Any club in England looking for support can contact the Pitch Advisory Service to find out more: www.thegma.org.uk/services/pitch-advisory-service

There are also a host of free resources available with the Grounds Management Toolkit, essential grounds maintenance resources for volunteers from the GMA: https://resources.thegma.org.uk

The Grounds Management Framework is a good place to start to consider the surface quality a club is aiming for, and the investment and skills needed to get there: https://thegma.org.uk/GMF

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A decade of MM seed for Rugby School

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A decade of MM seed for Rugby School: James Mead, Grounds Manager at the world-famous Rugby School in Warwickshire, has revealed why he has used MM50 grass seed for the last ten years.

Rugby School, founded in 1567, is one of the oldest public schools in England, and is renowned worldwide for being the place where the game of rugby was born and developed. In fact, visitors travel from far and wide to visit the school’s small museum and to see where the legendary student William Webb Ellis, took a football in his arms and ran with it.

A decade of MM seed for Rugby School

A decade of MM seed for Rugby School

It is fitting that a school of such status also boasts a fabulous sporting reputation and James Mead and his experienced team work hard to keep the facilities in pristine condition.

James believes that a grass seed is one of the most integral components in producing a high-quality sports pitch and it is for this reason that he chooses to use MM50.

“I initially heard of MM50 through seminars and various events, and I’ve now been using it for just over ten years,” he said. “The quality of the grass and the cleanliness of the mix is very important – we don’t want any rogue grasses or agricultural left in the mix. MM50 is a very clean mixture.”

MM is one of the most respected brands in the UK amenity industry, with over 40 years of experience and knowledge. The extensive product portfolio is second to none with performance proven mixtures that are used at many leading venues in the UK and Europe.

MM50, in particular, is one of the UK’s biggest selling grass mixtures. The hard-wearing ryegrass mix is very fine leaved, has high shoot density, is tolerant to close mowing down to 4-5mm and produces a great colour all year round. It also has quick recovery from damage and play.

“We use MM50 on our cricket squares, wickets, cricket outfields and we also use MM60 on the first team rugby pitch,” said James. “We overseed as much as we can depending on weather, and it gives us great coverage, great density, and a good fineness of leaf. Very rarely do we get disease and it gives us first-class colour. Playability wise it is excellent and it is ideal for the run of a ball. MM50 just ticks all the boxes that we are looking for.”

Both MM50 and MM60 (an ideal mixture for winter sports pitches) are treated with Headstart® GOLD – a revolutionary grass seed treatment that ensures rapid germination. It benefits from minerals such as Phosphorus, Sulphur, Copper and Molybdenum which all help to stimulate root formation, development and growth ensuring that the seedling grass plant develops a strong root system during the critical start-up phase.

“The speed of the germination certainly takes the pressure off the initial seeding,” said James. “We tend not to put fertiliser down with the MM50 straight away, instead we let the seed come through first. The initial protection to the plant from the mix is ideal.

“The quality of MM50 has never diminished and if anything, it keeps improving. It is a very trustworthy product. Seeding takes a lot of time and effort, and you want the best results for your hard work.”

James also praised the support he receives from both MM and Agrovista Amenity (distributor of MM).

“I have a very good relationship with Matt Gresty from MM seed and also with Mark Allen from Agrovista Amenity – who is able to provide various products of great benefit to us.”

For further information, please contact MM Sports Seed on 01386 791102 or visit the company’s website www.mm-seeds.co.uk. You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

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Another decade with Toro

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Another decade with Toro: Trust, support and understanding, three vital qualities for a successful relationship, and in the case of Royal Dornoch, Toro and Reesink, it’s a combination that has worked exceedingly well for 25 years. Now it’s set to last a lot longer too as the club signs an exclusive supplier agreement for another ten years.

In an uncertain climate, one thing general manager Neil Hampton at Royal Dornoch in Scotland knows with certainty in choosing Toro again, is that quality and consistency will continue, which for a Championship course is non-negotiable. He says: “Regardless of what is going on in the world, one thing that has remained the same for 400 years is our dedication to providing our members and players with golfing excellence.

Another decade with Toro

Another decade with Toro

“Toro is tried and tested on the remote links landscape here and we see no reason to change that especially when Toro’s dedication to innovation and technology stills leads the way.”

Neil refers specifically to the four Toro Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 electric greens mowers included in the club’s latest order: “As a club it’s very important for us to be as green as we can as often as we can. The team tried the electric greens mowers in a demo and were unanimously impressed, plus you know with Toro that any new machine has been tested to the nth degree. There were absolutely no negatives in choosing these electric machines to take over the important frontline mowing on our greens.”

Continuing the green theme in the rest of the order are four of the environmentally-friendly hybrid Reelmaster 5010-H fairway mowers and eight electric utility vehicles, the Workman GTXe with lithium-ion battery. Neil says: “Our greens and fairway mowers are used a lot and it is of the utmost importance that they perform to their best at all times. We’ve never noticed a difference between the environmentally-friendly machine option or diesel, apart from the obvious noise and fuel mess.

“We have a fantastic relationship with Reesink in that they understand how we work, what works best for us and what we want out of a deal. For example, we have a great system for the replacement and buy-back of our used machinery. Our used machines have a lot of life left in them and it’s only right that they go on doing a great job somewhere else.”

Heading into 2021 what does Neil see on the horizon? “Looking at the positives from 2020, the year Royal Dornoch got voted as Scotland’s Best Golf Course by the World Golf Awards, the break from play during growing season has given the course an unexpected rest, there’s been little to no wear and tear and it’s looking and playing wonderfully. The team had the chance to undertake jobs such as overseeding that you wouldn’t normally do in the peak season and it means we go into 2021 with the course in the ultimate shape.

“With international travel hopefully opening up earlier than expected perhaps in the spring, it means our 700 overseas members can resume their play here which will be fantastic. In the meantime, we’ve always been proud to be a course accessible for all. For 400 years our doors have been open to everyone and in 2021 that will be hugely important; we all know the huge benefits a round of golf can bring.”

And with Toro aiding the 19-strong greenkeeping team in tending the 36-hole course means it will provide the best possible environment, not just in terms of its beauty and playability, but its carbon footprint too. The future is decidedly green at Royal Dornoch!

To talk to someone about Toro’s electric machinery, packages and payment options available and how the Toro range would suit your course, call 01480 226800.

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