Sports Turf Management a Science or Art form?

Sports Turf Management a Science or Art form? is some thoughts and maybe a question to others on how they see the profession. Joel also tells us a bit about his relatively journey on the road of the industry in this community blog.

I started in the sports turf industry in May 2018, with little to no knowledge of what I was getting myself into. I like many people who used to watch football, rugby, cricket and golf on the tv. However, it never crossed my mind who the men or women were that came on at half time to check the pitch or where the water that shot up from out of the pitch came from.

Now I find myself working in this fantastic industry, there have been ups and downs, but it has made me a better professional. Because that is exactly what we are, professionals we are trades people, no different to a plumber or a bricklayer. However, in this industry we have so much more to look after. There’s irrigation, a fleet of machinery, woodland or wildlife areas, construction and the main one of course is horticulture.

Now I find myself working in this fantastic industry, there have been ups and downs, but it has made me a better professional. Joel Shires

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It’s not just a case of cutting a pitch or golf course there is so much more that goes into it, and that is where my idea has come from, is sports turf management a science or a form of art.

I personally believe that this industry is a combination of the two, coming from a greenkeeping background. when you stand back on a Friday afternoon, and you see the fruits of your labour you cannot help but feel the enormous amount of job satisfaction there is from getting the course ready for the weekend. It has always amazed me watching my bosses over these couple of years putting their knowledge and experience to the test, knowing what exactly the plant needs to survive and flourish to perform at the highest level.

What do you think is it a science or a art form, or a bit of both?

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The skill and knowledge that goes into all this experience could possibly only be compared to an artist completing his painting, but this is the thing, the work does not stop there, this job tests you every day. Every day is a school day, and we are always learning.

In this industry you can go into as much detail as you want, with modern technology we can measure soil temperature and the moisture within our playing surface, we can also measure the clip volume and firmness of our playing surfaces. This is important for those at the top of the industry to meet guidelines set out by governing bodies such as FIFA or the R&A.

What do you think is it a science or a art or a bit of both?

Sports Turf Management a Science or a Art Form? Joel Shires

Also l can highly recommended this a more in depth read, if you have some time on your hands – https://turfcareblog.com/so-you-just-cut-the-grass-dont-you/