SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/517437
32 SportsTurf | June 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com FACILITY & OPERATIONS guys understand the concept of the growing process and what influences it as you and they can then manage the plant sympa- thetically to this. Understand when to push, when to rest and allow recovery and how to manipulate the growing process for your advantage without stressing the plant. The initial theory sessions made sure that all firstly under- stood the meaning of the job, their role in this job and what was expected from them. Moving onto practical sessions with basic machinery with the supporting theory after each to aid fast learning, we made sure all understood the reasons for doing each task, likely timings and the associated benefits and disad- vantages. I also understood that the more efficiently the guys devel- oped, the fewer mistakes would be made and the best work would be produced in the shortest period of time. In high temperatures and with pressure to produce the very best results fast (a common theme as we are all aware), there was really no time for repairing damage from workforce, mistakes, slip-ups or mishaps! As time passed I quickly developed an approach that could be transferred from one stadium situation to another; this was necessary with number of sites being managed now I was based in Baku and this also paid dividends later on when travelling around Eastern Asia. Modifications of the program were needed to focus on indi- vidual stadium micro-climates and usage patterns and focus on what could be achieved within the constraints each situation held. Of course, in the real world, we cannot always do things exactly as we plan them when it comes to maintenance tasks. Flexibility is a requirement too. I decided to make the training a more formal affair. I opened discussions with the IOG (Institute of Groundsmanship – UK) to develop a more advanced training course for the 10 grounds- men the club now employed, a first for the IOG and Azerbaijan. So, I set to writing a formal course proposal detailing what the qualification would entail, its content, the training process, the expected outcomes and how it would be assessed. For more advanced on-the-job training documents such as this are required to clearly set out the goals and methods. For one year, we worked steadily to achieve the goals. Weekly lessons via PowerPoint held in the club hotel where I lived, practical sessions on the numerous pitches at the club, iden- tification sessions and safety training. All carried out in a real work environment. We covered most all things possible, from grass identification to machinery maintenance, set-up and care to root hair development, to de-nitrification, stripping and re- growing of pitches and simple things like plugging. Each lesson succeeded the last, methodically working from basic principles to more advanced management in a step-by-step process. The finale to the course was a 2-hour written exam I developed to assess just how their theory training had progressed and what had been retained over the year. This was delivered in a formal UK style, something that my guys had never experienced before. Bi-weekly tests were carried out as well as matching and on going practical assessments. The guys got on with the learning, I got on with the teaching and we worked pragmatically through the next year. We must also add to all this, the language barrier involved. Everything must be translated into Azeri or Russian before being delivered. Not an easy task and many hours were put in to develop it. For many sports turf terms there is no translation! My guys here now understand a tremendous amount of words that will be useless to them in their daily life away from work. So what has been achieved? At Gabala we have a staff made up of very keen and willing groundsmen that have a real pas- sion for their job and all have a keenness to continue learning. Around the region I like to think that the guys now understand the importance of what they do, work to produce the best results for both the plant and the playing surface. We have few mistakes and no accidents and my staff are a pleasure to manage. Most importantly, they produce a consis- tent high quality of workmanship, every day and for every task. I am proud of what they know, how they conduct themselves around the work site and how they are developing into mature, sensible, sympathetic professional groundsmen. ■ ST Phil Sharples has spent time as a researcher, lecturer, and practitioner in the sports turf industry, specializing in stadia turf management. He is still working now for Gabala FC in Azerbaijan. A groundsmanship lesson at soccer club hotel. Results always speak louder than words.