Groundstaff gain qualifications

The green grass at The Spitfire Ground is in good hands after a trio of groundstaff gained qualifications at Hadlow College.

Josh Marden, Steve Martin and Riley Nicholson undertook a NVQ Level course 2 in Groundsmanship course at the college while working under Kent Cricket head groundsman Simon Williamson.

Simon Williamson said: “The course gives an excellent grounding in sports turf management and they can develop their practical skills on the pitches here at Kent.

“We try to support the staff to learn new skills and the college allow the lads to do their coursework on the job.

“Josh, Riley and Steve did very well to balance the practical skills with the theoretical coursework and am sure supporters will see the results in the pitches we produce going forward.”

Groundsman Josh Marden said: “The course gave us a broad range of theory on turf for different sports and we could then see it in practice in a cricket setting.

“We learned about health and safety, the different machinery and techniques to get the grass growing healthily.

“Simon has been brilliant in giving us more responsibility to get involved with the maintenance and learn new skills.

“We did a lot of the coursework during matches and a lot of it is practical-based work on the job rather than lots of study and theory.”