UNIVERSITY
got the position and the rest is history really… since then, I have just been trying to make this division as good as I can.” Kris admits he is still learning every day and he is not perfect. “There is always something around the corner to challenge you. For example, twelve months ago, we had the new SIS hybrid pitch installed in the University’s stadium. This type of surface was new to me, but I have taken to it well and enjoy working with it.”
The grounds team are well supported by the University when it comes to the budget. Kris will discuss the requirements for the football pitches with William Relf,
who is the Sports Grounds Manager and oversees everything.
Helping Kris maintain the pitches is: Allan Hampson - Skilled Groundsman (six years’ service); Paul Barker - Skilled Groundsman (seventeen years’ service); Harry Barnard - Apprentice Groundsman (two years’ service) and Andrew Ilsley - Chargehand Groundsman of Artificial Surfaces and Athletics.
The site is expansive and covers nearly every sport you could think of, but Kris’s sole responsibility (alongside his team) is to keep the hybrid pitch, six fully-constructed sand- based pitches and two 3G pitches in tip-top
condition. The stadium pitch is home to Loughborough Foxes and, for fifteen games a year, also the Derby County under 23s. Additional tournaments, student fixtures, and the occasional rugby and lacrosse games, make for a pretty busy schedule. All of the football pitches have fully automatic irrigation systems. “We went for Rain Bird on the new stadium pitch, as we wanted to try something different and the construction company already had a good relationship with them. Predominantly, the rest of the site is Toro and, in my opinion, they are both excellent products; we have no problems with either set-up. All pitches are controlled via a Heron control panel and are fed from an underground tank, which is attached to the mains water supply.” Given the number of games they have to accommodate on the new hybrid pitch, and with some of them being important matches for the University, they do have an old set of frost covers they can use if the temperatures drop in winter. If needed, they will also use them on the training pitches - if it was seen as a priority.
At Saltex 2019, Kris entered SGL Systems’
Over the whole industry, the money situation puts a lot of people off. I hear
from people at league clubs who have to struggle with very limited budgets and
f ight against people at the top - which is no fun
70 PC August/September 2020
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