After
winning the 2018 SALTEX College Cup, students from Bridgwater and Taunton
College in Somerset, recently enjoyed their prize of a behind the scenes tour
at The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), Wimbledon.
Simon
Cook, Jacob Camplin, Ryan Tate and trainer/assessor Cary Rawlings experienced
an unforgettable day when Neil Stubley, the AELTC’s Head of Courts and
Horticulture, provided them with an in-depth look at court preparations the
week before The Championships, Wimbledon took place.
Sponsored
by Ransomes, the competition took place at SALTEX 2018 at the NEC in
Birmingham, where the three Bridgwater and Taunton students competed against
other UK-based horticultural colleges in an in-depth academic test of turf
management knowledge.
Commenting
on being involved in this extraordinary opportunity, college student Ryan Tate
said: “The experience was really educational. I was very lucky to get to see
turf management at the highest tier and I’ll really benefit from it.”
Fellow
college student Simon Cook added: “It has been a real eye opener, especially
getting the chance to speak to and learn from someone like Neil Stubley.”
“The
attention to detail here at Wimbledon is incredible and I feel very lucky to
have been here to witness it,” said Jacob Camplin. “We’ll be back at SALTEX
this year to defend our title and we’re going for our second win so bring it
on!”
Commenting
on the SALTEX College Cup, Neil Stubley said: “I was fortunate to be invited to
sit on the judging panel at the SALTEX College Cup in 2018 and it was a great
experience to see up-and-coming grounds personnel with their key knowledge and
their willingness to learn. I’ve enjoyed showcasing what we do to the winning
team and explaining the challenges we have to work with to deliver exceptional
surfaces for The Championships.”
The
Wimbledon tour follows two extraordinary SALTEX College Cup prizes in previous
years. In 2017 the winning students were part of the Wembley grounds team at
the FA Cup Final and the 2018 winners enjoyed an unforgettable experience of
helping with pitch preparations at the 2018 Six Nations Championships at BT
Murrayfield Stadium.
Since its
launch in 2017, the SALTEX College Cup has grown each year both in size and
reputation, and Cary Rawlings believes that even more colleges should enter the
competition.
“I can
highly recommend the SALTEX College Cup to all colleges that are involved in
delivering sports turf. It is a fantastic opportunity for young students to
challenge themselves and it provides them with the opportunity to gain
experience of delivering a presentation to industry professionals that will set
them in good stead for future job interviews.
“It also
gives a good overview of the knowledge that your students have taken on-board
during their course and also highlights any areas that may need to be
revisited.
“We are
looking forward to entering again this year and I implore other colleges to
participate in this event. It is not every day that your students get the
opportunity to experience life behind the scenes at a major sporting event.
Once the seed has been planted for something like this it will drive our future
custodians of the industry on to bigger and better things.”
All
colleges interested in participating in the 2019 SALTEX College Cup should
email Dan Prest at dprest@iog.org for more details.
Toro and
Reesink are the new 2019 sponsors of the SALTEX College Cup. The 2019 winners’
prize will be a trip to Real Madrid’s Bernabau Stadium.
For more information visit www.iogsaltex.com
