Educational Establishments
“By 2007, the grounds department had become virtually self-financing. The results of our labours can be judged by the extensive use by students and local people”
Sport Swansea
All sports in all seasons N
With one or more sports surfaces in daily use for all but two weeks of the year, regular scheduled grounds maintenance remains top priority for the three staff working within Swansea
University’s Department of Sport and Physical Recreation.
Mike Bird delves into the routines
94 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013
ow conveniently abbreviated to ‘Sport Swansea’, the University’s Department of Sport and Physical Recreation encompasses a vast array of indoor and outdoor activities played on turf and synthetic surfaces.
Glancing at the computer screen in his office, Grounds Manager, John Courtney, points out that the all-weather pitches and running track at the University’s main Sketty Lane facility attracted around 90,000 individual users in 2011 with a similar number visiting last year. “In addition, more than 200 different events were hosted on Sport Swansea’s turf areas during the year, making regular and proper maintenance the foundation of everything we do, helping keep all of our users happy,” commented John. “I’ve been working at the University for a little over seven years and extreme weather conditions are generally the cause of any pitch closures.”
John says that his previous experience as sole cricket groundsman at St Helen’s, Swansea, provided a great springboard for the grounds manager’s post at the University’s sports centre which he took up in late 2005, relocating some 1,000 metres west along the Mumbles Road. “When I was at St Helen’s, I was employed by the City and County of Swansea which owns the combined rugby and cricket ground,” he explained. “Prior to that, I had spent fourteen years working at various locations throughout the area for the local authority’s grounds maintenance department.” As a result, John accumulated good knowledge of the unique climate of the Gower peninsula which leans toward milder, moister conditions coming in from the Atlantic, with the Welsh mountains to the north sheltering the area from extremes of cold weather. Understanding the weather and its influence on turf health and condition has proved a great help to him in
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