Tag Archive for: potential

Potential unleashed

Potential unleashed: Millfield School has an enviable roll call of high achieving alumni. Scott MacCallum speaks with Craig Richardson, Head of Grounds and Gardens, to find out how they do it. 

Ask many people at which school they would have loved to have been a pupil and I’m pretty sure the name Hogwarts would feature strongly.

Not for me, though, the school I would have loved to attend is Millfield School, in Somerset.

Potential unleashed

Potential unleashed

I grew up learning about the great names who had been educated, and honed their sporting prowess, at Millfield School and I wanted to join them, not because I was particularly adept at any sport. Quite the reverse, I’m pretty inept at most sports. But I love sport and while I was never likely to achieve what the likes of Sir Gareth Edwards, Duncan Goodhew, Helen Glover, Adam Hastings, Tyrone Mings, Andrew Castle, Lando Norris, Chris Robshaw, Mako Vunipola and Huw Jones, to name just a handful, I would undoubtedly have become more proficient with some top quality coaching.

The site itself is phenomenal, and coupled with coaching of the highest quality, you can see exactly how the school has acquired its reputation.

No amount of talent or high level one-to-one coaching, however, can succeed without a quality surface on which to show off skills, and the man in charge of managing the sports surfaces, as well as maintaining the fantastic gardens around the school grounds, is Craig Richardson, Head of Grounds and Gardens.

“The brilliance of this school is that we pretty much cover every sport. It’s not just football and rugby in the winter and cricket in the summer, we’ve got grass tennis courts, we’ve got golf, we’ve got equestrian, the list goes on. Up until this year we had our own polo pitch and we still have an annual polo event. It’s a fantastic spectacle,” said Craig, in his calm north east accent.

With such a range of sports for which to provide surfaces, the entire site is 240 acres, Craig is fortunate to have a strong team of over 20 whose goal, set by Craig, is akin to those goals set for the elite sportsmen and women who are lucky enough to attend the school.

“We try to maintain our sports surfaces as close to professional surfaces as we can. There are going to be constraints because of time and also finance, but that is what we try to do.

“And we try to take it one stage further because, rather than just look for those standards for the first team pitches, we want to make all of our pitches to the same standard. So, whether it’s the under 15 Cs or the A team, I believe they should be playing on the same standard of surface.

“That is what we aspire to. Do, we get it right all the time? Probably not, but that’s our goal,” explained Craig.

The school, in the village of Street, was founded in 1935, a mere stripling alongside some of the country’s public schools but in those 88 years its sporting claims to fame has been unmatched. Where else, for example, could boast of having been represented at every Olympic Games since 1956.

Indeed, at the Rio Games in 2016, eight Millfieldians took part and won a total of four medals, in rowing, swimming and rugby sevens. Go back to the London Games in 2012 and Millfield was the most represented UK school.

There are 130 sports coaches on staff who oversee 24 diff erent sports including, in alphabetical order, athletics, badminton, basketball, chess, clay shooting, cricket, cross country, dance, equestrian, fencing, football, golf, hockey, karate, modern pentathlon, netball, rowing, rugby, skiing racing, squash, swimming tennis, trampolining and triathlon.

There is one word for that stable of sporting opportunity – WOW! Facilities include, a 50 metre swimming pool, the equestrian centre, sports halls, cricket nets, putting green, squash courts, water based hockey pitch, outdoor tennis courts, netball courts and a nine-hole golf course.

Definitely spoiled for choice! And it’s not just in sport which Millfield has produced the goods.

The world of entertainment can look to the school for producing some if its biggest stars – Lily Allen, Tony Blackburn, Sophie Dahl, and Rose Leslie, among a host of others, saw the firm foundations of their careers built at Millfield. The current Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, is a former pupil.

“There are so many talented people at the school and it is good to be in and around it,” said Craig, who recently watch the school’s long jump record being broken by one of the girls.

Despite having risen to the top echelons of grounds management Craig was actually a late starter. He spent the early part of his adult life in the casino business, where he worked around the world before a yearning for a career which would expose him to a little more sunlight.

“I was playing a lot of golf between contracts, and saw the opportunity to do something different with my life,” he recalled.

He approached a local college and they found him a work placement at Woodspring Golf Club, in Bristol, where he was lucky enough to fi nd Course Manager, Steve Chappell, there to mentor him. Steve went on to be Head Greenkeeper at Gleneagles for the Ryder Cup in 2014 and is now a Course Manager in Slovenia.

Potential unleashed

Potential unleashed

“He was great to work for and we had a young team which produced some very good surfaces.”

Having cut his teeth on golf he then moved to Ashton Gate, home of Bristol City Football Club, where he spent 15 years.

“I remember I started two days after 9/11 in 2001 working under Martin Plumley, who was Grounds Manager. When he moved on a year later I took on the Head Groundsman’s job. At that time we just had the stadium to look after, but I then took on the responsibility for the training pitches at Clifton College.

“We then build a training ground next door and helped level an area for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital School to enable them to create more sports fields before taking on a management contract from the school to look after the facilities.”

Towards the end of his time with Bristol City he had taken on the role of Head of Operations.

“It was amazing really. We were developing three stands at the ground and it was very exciting to be involved with the club. But then the job at Millfield came up. I had a great job at Bristol City and it took a lot to get me to move but with everything the school had to offer it was too great an opportunity to miss.”

As everyone knows, the trick is when starting a new job is to make a good impression early and Craig knew what he wanted to do. Using renovation techniques he’d learned at Bristol City from people including Premier Pitches he introduced new practices which had an immediate impact on the school’s playing surfaces.

“I was lucky that there was a good budget in place and we were able to buy a fraise mower, a disc seeder and a top dresser while we already had a fl eet of tractors and the manpower to carry out the work that I wanted to do. The pitches had never been fraise mown before, but it was something that I knew would bring about significant improvement.

“We also installed drainage and irrigation into a number of pitches and we now take the top off every pitch every year and top dress.

We’ve fraise mown the cricket square for the last three or four years and this year is probably the best we have had them.

“It has allowed us to do our renovations in-house and so we have been able to improve our surfaces and protect the investment that has gone into the pitches.

“Hopefully the school appreciates that and the children can appreciate what they have here when they go to other venues which perhaps don’t drain as well and perform a little bit differently.”

Standards across industry are rising all the time and expectation levels rise accordingly, but any pressure to clear the bar at a school which demands the highest standards is handled with a degree of sensible.

“I don’t think the pressure weighs on us. You can only do what you can do. We are limited with the soils that we have, the drainage that we have, the irrigation that we have and the finances that we have.

“We are not a premier league football club which can spend a lot of money on fertilisers and the latest technology etc, but seeing what can be achieved does give us something to shoot at – we should be trying to improve ourselves and improve the surfaces that we have to look after.”

It would take a very experienced eye to blind test successfully any Millfield pitch against the pitch of a professional team in a range of sports, so Craig and his talented team of groundsmen and gardeners are an extremely good fit for a school where striving for excellence is a non-negotiable.

For me I left the school still regretting that I hadn’t been fortunate enough to have attended but just wondering how many more pupils they would attract if they offered quidditch on the curriculum?

Uncovering the Potential

Uncovering the Potential: Sports research laboratories, consultants and other sports specialists look at data to improve the surface, environment or player performance. Let’s look at how GrasPro can help with it.

Experience with GrasPro users shows that targeted data collection and processing make it possible to assess and improve pitch quality, better manage conditions, increase utilisation and reduce investment, operating costs and environmental impact. Using the system provides a clear overview of the pitches’ care, quality and characteristics.

Uncovering the Potential

Uncovering the Potential

Based on the data, a variety of studies and analyses can be carried out to influence the above factors and build an understanding of the pitch.

To take an example of data use:

  • Do factors such as a low grass mowing height influence the pitch resistance?
  • The interaction between weather, water use and fertiliser sources. That is, how much the fertiliser application must be changed to offset precipitation and irrigation. An aspect that can be an environmental problem.
  • How different maintenance measures affect the outcome of measuring the grass condition.
  • How can data support environmentally friendly pitch maintenance?
  • The impact of accidents on players.

Player Injuries and the Pitch Condition

For information on the importance of this data collection, many studies have been conducted on the correlation between player accidents and pitch conditions. Some of these studies have shown a connection between these two factors. For example, the grip and compression of the surface can influence the accident rate.

There is clear evidence of inadequate stability and definitions of quantitative deficiencies. This GA review (1) [Lauren A. Petrass et. AL, 2013] is also presented in a scientific study by David Rennie and others published in 2015 (2) [David J. Rennie et. al, 2016]. The performance and capability of players are primarily determined by the type of surface they play on. Simple tests show whether if a surface is wet, hard, uneven, etc., can matter. These factors can affect ball flow, speed of play, player injuries and the game itself, among other things. With improved data collection and data reliability, it is possible to investigate, for example, whether a fast surface is better suited for quick players to perform to their full potential.

 

It is of great interest to top-tier competition teams to pay close attention to on-pitch situations where large sums of money can be directly related to the performance of individual players in competing teams. Modern competition depends on whether a key player is injured or cannot play at full capacity due to pitch conditions. This can have far-reaching effects on a team’s earning potential and its long-term performance.

Achieving Sustainability Goals for Stadium Construction and Maintenance

In FIFA Stadium Guidelines 2022 (3) FIFA stress that sustainable maintenance and operation of the stadiums are essential for the future. According to the UN, the energy intensity of buildings must be reduced 30% by 2030 compared to 2015 levels to meet the Paris Agreement. In addition to it, significant climate change mitigation measures include reducing CO2 emissions from materials used in stadium construction, maintenance and using clean energy to power stadiums.  

The reduction of waste generated during stadium construction, operation and maintenance is another point to consider. For example, excavated soil generated on the construction site should be used for buildings where possible so that only material that cannot be reused is removed. This helps reduce the volume of waste generated during development, reducing the carbon footprint, air pollution and lorry traffic.

Simple measures like composting grass clippings and re-using materials produced during pitch renovations and maintenance can also contribute. In fact, measuring your grass clipping yield can help manage nitrogen and PGR inputs more precisely, improving pitch consistency and performance whilst reducing waste. Keeping a simple record of grass clippings volume can be important information.

Keeping a comprehensive record of moisture levels in the pitch using probes or underground sensors can also make a substantial difference. The desired station can be set by benchmarking moisture levels against pitch performance, and only the exact amount of water needed is used to achieve it.

The same method can be used for fertilisers and grass seeds. With optimum time for use pinpointed, it avoids product waste, budget waste and unnecessary deliveries.

Data collection with GrasPro creates opportunities for gathering knowledge from data and research. The processing and use of this data and expertise will likely lead to significant improvements in the quality and operation, as well as improved player safety and performance.

Sources:

  1. Lauren A. Petrass and Dara M. Twomey (2013), The relationship between ground conditions and injury: What level of evidence do we have? Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 16 (2),. Doi: 0.1016/j.jsams.2012.07.005
  2. David J Rennie,Jos Vanrenterghem, Martin Littlewood, Barry Drust (2016), Can the natural turf pitch be viewed as a risk factor for injury within Association Football?? Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 19 (7), 547-552. Doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2015.07.009
  3. FIFA Football Stadiums Guidelines 2022. Available here: https://publications.fifa.com/en/football-stadiums-guidelines/

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.

Agrovista Amenity boosts export potential

Agrovista Amenity boosts export potential: Agrovista Amenity has further underlined its commitment to export by becoming a corporate member of the Institute of Export & International Trade.

Since Agrovista Amenity was launched many UK customers have benefited from a wider breadth of innovative products and specialist technical expertise. UK sport is a global spectacle and sets the standard for first class agronomy intelligence and natural playing surfaces.

Agrovista Amenity boosts export potential

Agrovista Amenity boosts export potential

There is, however, increasing pressure on grounds managers to produce the best playing surfaces and this in turn sees more demand for companies like Agrovista Amenity to provide new and innovative technologies.

With an experienced and motivated management team, the plan was always to explore new opportunities, and export was high on the agenda for Agrovista Amenity.

Although a vast range of the company’s products have already made an impression in various global markets, Export Manager Tom Challinor has revealed that the plan is to go even further.

“We want to grow export and the potential is absolutely there,” he said. “In the UK we are already one of the biggest amenity providers and now is the time to push on globally. I am fully focused on gradually building the export side of the business.”

With the company’s focus on sustainability, products such as those in Agrovista Amenity’s WhiptecBio range are becoming more sought after – especially due to the global initiative to reduce plastic waste. WhiptecBio tree and hedge guards are perfect for European nurseries and landscapers.

Agrovista Amenity’s diverse product range gives international customers a ‘one stop shop’ supplying everything from fertilisers, bio stimulants and micronutrients through to line marking paint, professional tools and equipment.

With excellent international logistics partners Agrovista can send products into Europe and Worldwide competitively and in good time.

The Institute of Export & International Trade is renowned for enhancing the export performance of the United Kingdom by setting and maintaining professional standards in international trade management and export practice. This is principally achieved by the provision of education, training and practical business support services.

“Having the corporate membership status gives us credibility, certainly when we are dealing with overseas customers. It shows that we are trusted exporters, which is essential especially in these current times.”

Tom admitted that the membership has come at a welcome time due to challenging and often complex trading conditions in international markets. He claims that the role of the Institute of Export & International Trade has never been more vital.

“With Brexit and the pandemic, export has become more complex,” he said. “The workload has increased, and everything is checked a lot more stringently now. Being up to date on changing legislation and customs formalities is crucial in successfully servicing our overseas customers and making sure our goods leave the UK and on to the destination country efficiently. This is where the support of the Institute will be beneficial with specific departments where we can access a host of information, such as legislation and customs advice.

“Overall, this membership is a very positive step forward and I believe it will continue to help us export our products into Europe and worldwide.”

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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.

SAGE: The potential is massive

SAGE: The potential is massive: A huge thank you to everyone who attended and supported the inaugural year of The Sports & Grounds Expo (SAGE), at The Three Counties Showground, 27 – 29 July.

The challenges of the last year have had a huge impact on events, and the support and positive feedback from our visitors, speakers and exhibitors is greatly appreciated, and vital to the future of the event. The foundations for SAGE have now been set and have provided a strong starting point, from which we can build from.

SAGE: The potential is massiveSAGE: The potential is massive

The central location of The Three Counties Showground, as well as the vast amount of space on offer, provides the perfect venue.

The huge amount of positive feedback received, from both visitors and exhibitors, has cemented SAGE 2022 in the calendar for next summer.

Over 75% of our exhibitors have said they would definitely return to exhibit, with zero saying they would not, which is a fantastic testament of support from our founding exhibitors. From the visitor surveys over 85% of visitors are looking forward to returning in 2022. The team are reviewing carefully the feedback from the exhibitors and visitors, to guarantee that we are actively incorporating the needs of the industry into SAGE 2022.

The potential of what SAGE is capable of is huge for the industry and we look forward to making 2022 bigger and better!

For more information, contact the team today by email: team@sportsandgrounds.co.uk or visit the website: www.sportsandgrounds.co.uk.

Dates for 2022 will be released over the coming weeks on the website and across all of our social media platforms.

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