The SAPCA team enjoyed two days on their stand at the SALTEX 2018 exhibition at the NEC last week, meeting colleagues, Association members, potential new members and many contacts from across the marketplace.
Chris Trickey, SAPCA Chief Executive said: “Being at SALTEX was an excellent opportunity to meet up with many people within the industry and to discuss a number of important issues currently affecting the sector”. He continued, “We were also delighted to see so many of our members exhibiting and presenting at the show”.
The SAPCA members exhibiting at Saltex 2018 were: Agripower Ltd, Astrosport Ltd, Blakedown Sport & Play Ltd, Charterhouse Turf Machinery Ltd, CLS Sports, Domo Sports Grass, Edwards Sports Products Ltd, Fleet (Line Markers) Ltd, Harrod UK Ltd, Mark Harrod Ltd, SIS Pitches, SISIS, Stuart Canvas Ltd, and White Horse Contractors Ltd.
This year’s “Saltex Learning Live” education programme, running alongside the exhibition, included several seminar presentations by SAPCA members.
The first day saw SAPCA Chief Executive, Chris Trickey speak on Synthetic Standards, with a focus on SAPCA’s new Quality Control Protocol for performance infills for synthetic turf.
Later the same morning, TGMS Ltd’s Pitch Consultant Iain James and PSD Agronomist Charles Henderson looked at Hybrid Turf at Community Level, sharing pitch performance data on the suitability of hybrid surfaces for community sport.
In the afternoon Eric O’Donnell, Managing Director of Sports Labs, gave an interesting presentation on the findings of a study undertaken by the players’ union, the Scottish FA and Sports Labs to establish the best and worst surfaces in the Scottish game. This was followed the same afternoon by a presentation from George Mullan, Managing Director of SIS Pitches, on The first Hybrid Pitch for a FIFA World Cup Final.
The following day Iain James returned to the stage this time with Alex Vickers from the IOG to speak on Wet and Dry Seasons in Cricket, while Nick Harris from Reply Maintenance Ltd gave an informative presentation, on behalf of SAPCA, on the importance of maintenance to ensure the correct playing performance of synthetic surfaces.
The Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) annual Industry Awards took place on the evening of 31 October. Celebrating its 10th Anniversary, this year’s event was again hosted by talkSPORT radio presenter Mark Saggers and recognised the leadership, innovation and outstanding achievement across every aspect of groundscare – from grassroots pitches to professional stadia.
One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the Professional Football Grounds Team of the Year to Leicester City FC. The team received a special standing ovation, and in an emotional acceptance speech, Head Groundsman John Ledwidge thanked the industry for its support since the recent tragedy at the Walkers Stadium, and paid tribute to the professionalism of all his colleagues at the club.
For more information on the IOG Industry Awards, please click [here]