News Two Awards in One
Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award introduces Young category for 2016
This year, Toro’s Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards will become two awards in one; offering, for the first time, a second category, for students aged twenty years and under.
The introduction of the Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award will “level the playing field for younger students”, says David Cole, managing director of award sponsor and UK distributor of Toro, Lely Turfcare. The new award will run alongside the long- standing Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award.
“The Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award is now in its 27th year and has been very successful,” explains David. “We have seen well over 750 student greenkeepers interviewed on a local level, and over 200 in the finals, but we were finding the younger students were not progressing as far as they potentially could under the old competition format, coming up as they were against more experienced candidates. The Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award remains open for all greenkeeping students studying for eligible qualifications in the UK, and we hope this new category allows the younger students their chance to shine.”
Further changes to the competition format this year are that students can put themselves forwards for the awards, with college tutors, assessors or employers endorsing their application. Also for the first time, applications will only take place online.
Sami Strutt, head of member development at the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA), the award organisers, says: “These changes enhance what was already an incredibly successful formula. The
In Brief...
Scotland’s groundsmen are up in arms
Hampden Park’s freshly-laid playing field came under heavy fire from all sides following Scotland’s friendly with Denmark after it was given the SPFL’s top award, just three weeks after it needed a £200,000 refurb ahead of the League Cup Final.
Despite its state, it emerged that the pitch has been awarded ‘Platinum’ status under the SPFL’s Club Licensing scheme - one of only four in the country receiving top marks.
Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award winner 2015 Stephen Thorne, second from right, shakes hands with Barry Beckett, senior marketing manager from The Toro Company, and Stephen's tutor at Myerscough College Nick Lush, second from left, shakes hands with David Cole, managing director at Lely Turfcare.
Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award is acknowledged as the highlight in the student greenkeeper’s calendar and we were keen to open up the event to allow more students, wherever they are on the career ladder, the opportunity to expand their experience, enhance their professional development and increase their skills and knowledge.”
Those eligible to enter include any greenkeeping student undertaking a Level 2 Work-based Diploma (Greenkeeper/SVQ Level 2 Sports Turf Management), Level 3 Work- based Diploma (Greenkeeper/SVQ Level 3 Sports Turf Management), Level 2 Diploma/National Certificate (NC) or Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma (SD).
The prize for the winner of the Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year is a five-night trip to the Continue to Learn programme at BTME in Harrogate, with four days of education, accommodation, travel and expenses, plus a Toro training voucher for a course of their choice. Whilst the runner up will receive a three-night trip to the same event, again with education, accommodation, travel, expenses and a Toro training
BASIS Points for Pitchcare Mag
*BASIS awards two CPD points for ‘paid for’ subscribers to the hard copy version of Pitchcare magazine, due to the “diverse range of content that relates to the control, management and use of pesticides”.
6 I PC APRIL/MAY 2016
Subscribers can now obtain a further two valuable CPD points for their Professional register, simply by paying for a subscription to the ‘hard copy’ version of the Pitchcare magazine.
Anyone wishing to claim their points should email their full name, BASIS membership number, date of birth and postcode to
editor@pitchcare.com.
*BASIS is an independent standards setting and auditing organisation for the pesticide, fertiliser and allied industries.
voucher for a course of their choice. The prizes for the Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award winner, endorser and runner up remain unchanged, with the winner heading to the States on an all-expenses-paid study trip of a lifetime. All award finalists will also receive a year’s complimentary BIGGA membership.
The deadline for online applications is 20 May 2016. Regional interviews will take place between 4 and 15 July, with the National Finals held on 19 and 20 September 2016. To enter go online to
www.bigga.org.uk/education/toro- student-greenkeeper-of-the-year- award where you can also find full details, prize information and terms and conditions.
But a number of the top flight’s groundsmen are angry at the set-up, which sees referees as the sole judge of their work and where they come in the table - and the lack of objectivity.
Forest Green Rovers stay green
Architects are being invited to submit “sustainable” stadium plans in a competition to design a new ground for non-league football club Forest Green Rovers.
The new stadium will be part of a £100m development - called Eco Park - a 100-acre sports and green technology business park which is being proposed for a site near junction 13 of the M5 in Gloucestershire.
Forest Green Rovers owner and chair Dales Vince said he was looking for “fan-focused stadium designs”.
“Sustainability will be key; we expect that to run through the core of the design, as through a stick of rock,” he added. “There are two aspects of sustainability - first, it’s about sustainable construction in terms of the material used and, second, it’s about the long-term operational sustainability of the stadium.”
“We’re starting with a blank sheet of paper. We’ve taken the sustainability concept as far as we could at the New Lawn, our current stadium.”
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