NATURAL TURF
Higher ground
Michael Heal and Karen Maxwell discuss the reasons why groundsmen deserve a
higher profile and greater influence in the running of a professional sport facility
I
nterest in all forms of sport has nev- At ground level Geoff Webb, chief executive of the
er been greater and the insatiable The Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) IOG, says: “The fact is that grounds-
media attention it now attracts is no has been fighting for years to improve manship in this day and age is a
longer confined to the back pages. the status afforded to all groundsmen, multi-dimensional job. Those working
Yet analyse all that media attention and but their requirements are often over- in the glare of the media spotlight in
you will find little mention, let alone looked by executives when it comes to sports stadia are vulnerable to the whim
credit, attributed to the groundsmen that apportioning budget. Some grounds- of the executives above them.
make many of these events possible. Un- men are expected to regularly produce “My questions are: How well do the
less, of course, something goes wrong. pitches for high-profile televised match- executives understand what goes into
We can all recall the furore earlier es and maintain the training pitches, the preparation of a surface? What train-
in the year when England’s Test Match in on salaries considerably less than the ing have they had? When does a sports
Antigua at the new Sir Viv Richards Sta- national average and with only the most stadia become an entertainment com-
dium was abandoned minutes after the basic forms of equipment. plex rather than an arena to play sport
start because the opening bowlers were In Wembley’s case, the traditional in? Does the need to balance the books
sinking into the sand as they ran up to approach of employing a head grounds- come at the expense of the playing
bowl. More recently, the state of the man to manage the pitch has now been surface? What is the understanding
pitch at Wembley has led to a barrage ditched in favour of senior Football of the budgets required and the
of criticism from all quarters Association (FA) management over- resources required to produce the
and yet the only public casualty seems seeing pitch maintenance by junior best possible playing surface?”
to have been the head groundsman groundsmen and assisted by hired turf
Steve Welch. This example is typical contractors, Premier Pitches and grass Workforce
of the pecking order at most profession- consultants, the Sports Turf Research Even commercial organisations would
al clubs. Groundsmen are often the last Institute (STRI). struggle to stage sports matches without
to be informed of initiatives, taken by The FA believes that this ‘specialist a nucleus of unpaid volunteers. This is
the executives, which will impact on task force’ model is more suited to a
the sustained quality of the match multi-purpose venue with disposable The Ashes, held at the
and training pitches – for which they pitches rather than having a single SWALEC Stadium – home
bear responsibility. groundsman controlling operations. of Glamorgan Cricket Club
PIC: PETE HA
Groundsmanship is a multi-dimensional job. Those
working in the glare of the media spotlight in sports stadia
YMAN
are vulnerable to the whim of the executives above them
Issue 3 2009 © cybertrek 2009 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital 37
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