Educational Establishments


The construction and maintenance of the sporting facilities is made easier by the fact that sport has played a huge part in my life. I do feel that it is vitally important to be able to understand the playability of surfaces from the players/customers side. Having played international hockey for Ireland, represented Munster in football and tennis, and played basically every other ball sport, makes me well placed to hopefully produce the best, safest and consistent surfaces for all to enjoy.


Do you source additional help or is the work done in-house?


The seeding and grow‐in stages of all natural turf projects are done in‐house by the team. It is the best way for the team to learn and take full ownership of the land they work so hard on.


Heavy plant is naturally required from time to time and we do get contractors in to do excavations and any soil/material movements.


Are you and your staff compliant with current legislation?


The School completely encourage all the staff to further their education and support them through the process. I currently have Kofi and Ashley working through their apprenticeships, Owen has completed his apprenticeship/spraying certificates and has now been taken on as a full‐time groundsman, Will has horticultural


qualification, Joe has a wealth of site experience and knowledge, Alan is Level II qualified/chainsaw, both ground and aerial/spraying and countless short course industry qualifications. All are First Aid qualified and the School holds numerous day courses on‐site throughout the year with regular Health & Safety legalisation updates keeping everyone compliant. We are greatly aided by our H&S Compliance Officer who works on site and is an excellent communicator.


I have been a huge advocate of education from my early days, as you will have noted earlier. There is nothing more satisfying than putting a colleague through their school portfolio, as all parties benefit. I love seeing people fulfil their potential.


Education is key and, without a trained team, I wouldn’t be able to present the site on a daily basis.


How are the apprentices working out?


Very well. Some will choose to stay in the industry whilst, for others, it gives them eighteen months to mature and decide what they want to do, whilst still getting a piece of paper out of the process.


Are there any new pieces of kit that have significantly helped to improve your playing surfaces?


I am all about aeration, aeration and more aeration on natural turf pitches and ornamental lawns. For this, we use the


Dressing cricket wickets after end of season renovations ‐ machine kindly borrowed from Paul Larson at Royal St. George’s Golf Club


End of cricket season renovations with several passes of Graden before overseeding and dressing


PC JUNE/JULY 2018 I 61


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