RUGBY
D
an Connor is the sole groundsman at Stanningley; in charge of the club’s main pitch and contracted to eight to ten hours per week. He’s supported by a band of volunteers who work as a team to keep the facilities in tip-top condition. He explains “We have a great team; Brian Sowden carries out all the odd jobs around the place, Ken Smith maintains all the grass banking and training areas, as well as doing the kit for the teams and looking after the changing rooms. There are also many volunteers who help out day to day.” Dan has been working part-time for Stanningley for over eight years, whilst focusing on his full-time job as joint Assistant Head Groundsman at Leeds Rhinos. He recalls how he first ended up tending to Stanningleys main pitch. “Jason Booth sent me down here whilst I was doing my apprenticeship at Headingley. If I’m totally honest, I wasn’t doing very well and had the outlook and approach of a typical young
teenager. He told me they wanted someone down here to maintain the pitch, and it’s a good opportunity for you to learn and have some responsibility.”
We’re all aware of the on-going struggle to attract new people into our industry, so I found it quite interesting that Dan recognised he wasn’t applying himself to the full. This led me to ask why the industry had first appealed to him. “For me, it started in my early teens when I used to go to my grandad’s house at the weekend. He got me interested in helping him grow vegetables in the back garden and I loved being outdoors amongst nature. When it came to leaving school and going to college, I had no idea what to do and I remembered what my grandad always used to say - ‘do something you enjoy’. So, I got into Askham Bryan College where I studied a National Diploma in Horticulture.”
“We would often have trips out to various places to get some work experience. One day, we went to Headingley, and it just so
happened there was about six inches of snow on the pitch. To help get the game on, we chipped in and spent all day shovelling the snow.”
That was Dan’s introduction to a stadium environment and, as part of the diploma, he had to find himself a work experience placement. With a growing interest in sports turf he applied to work at Headingley. “It’s local to me and I was very grateful to be given the opportunity to carry out my work experience at the club. I still had a year left on my diploma course so, with it being three days on four days off, I would go into Headingley and volunteer on my days off. I would even go in at nine o’clock at night and help take frost sheets on and off.” Once Dan had completed his Diploma there was only one thing he wanted to do; and that was work full-time for Leeds Rhinos. “Lucky for me, one of the lads had just left the club, which opened up the opportunity for me to accept a full-time apprenticeship at nineteen years old. In this time, I gained my NVQ Level 3 in sports turf management.” “We used to have a grounds team of six, until Kiel Barrett moved to Elland Road and Jason Booth left for the IOG (now GMA).
I’ve been lucky enough to be looked after, but
obviously, that’s not the case everywhere. I’m sure there are places out there where you are not treated as well
Leeds Rhinos Emerald Headingley Stadium 62 PC June/July 2020
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