Myerscough gets ready for SALTEX

The popular event, held at the NEC in Birmingham, is the leading turf management event for groundscare volunteers, professionals and manufacturers, and attended by thousands of visitors. This year’s exhibition sees Myerscough in attendance to offer advice and guidance on the range of sportsturf and greenkeeping courses and apprenticeships on offer.

As part of the two-day event, Myerscough have launched ‘Turf Mastermind’, in association with Turf Business magazine. Visitors will be able to take to the famous black chair to test their sector knowledge, with the overall highest scorer the recipient of a 32GB Fire HD 10 tablet with Alexa.

You can test your knowledge by visiting the team on Stand C220.

In addition, Lee Price, the Employer Services and Short Course Training Manager at Myerscough College, and Dr Stewart Brown, Senior Lecturer in Sportsturf Agronomy at University Centre Myerscough, will be expert guest speakers as of the Saltex ‘Learning Live’ series of seminars.

Lee will be on the panel discussing the Schools into Stadia initiative, explaining how to get young people interested in groundsmanship and how people can get involved, while Stewart will give a presentation on how a higher education qualification can be the gateway to career progression or opportunities in new fields such as agronomy or consultancy.  The presentation will explain the range of HE qualifications available in the UK, explain how they fit together and how studying for a HE qualification will benefit your career prospects.

Saltex is also the venue for the 2018 IOG Industry Awards, where Myerscough College is once again well represented, with sportsturf learners past and present nominated in a number of categories. The awards acknowledge the passion, dedication and challenges faced by grounds staff, volunteers and professionals across all levels of sport.

Dan Sparks is nominated in the category of Rigby Taylor/Top Green Young Grounds Person of the Year. 26-year-old Dan, who is Head of Grounds at Bristol City’s Ashton Gate stadium, completed a Level 3 apprenticeship in Work-based Horticulture (Sportsturf), and in addition to his role is studying a foundation degree in sportsturf with Myerscough College, online.

Jonathan Calderwood – who after studying with Myerscough in the 1990s has gone on to earn a reputation as one of the best groundsman in world football – is nominated for the International Ambassador of the Year Award. Jonathan is currently Head Groundsman at Paris Saint-Germain.

There are also nominations for Premier League clubs, Leicester City and Manchester City, two clubs with strong Myerscough sportsturf apprenticeship connections, including learners both past and present.

Saltex runs next Wednesday and Thursday (October 31^st – November 1^st). Click here for more details:

https://www.iogsaltex.com/