THE TURF INDUSTRY WITH ALEX JENSEN

Getting to Know the Turf Industry

WITH ALEX JENSEN

TIO stadium

Alex Jensen is Head Grounds Curator at TIO Stadium and others in Darwin - (Former Suncorp Groundsmen)

Some Background

2013 Qld STA graduate of the year

The Ohio State University Global Turf Program (TOP) participant

Alex Jensen has been working in the turf industry for about 8 years. Mr Jensen started his apprenticeship in sports turf management in 2012 while working for the Brisbane Metropolitan Touch Association (BMTA) at Whites Hill Reserve for 4 years. During this time, Mr Jensen spent 2 years as an apprentice before being promoted to Head Grounds Manager. While at BMTA, Mr Jensen was also awarded the 2013 Qld STA graduate of the year.

From Alex Jensen

From there as a part of the famous Ohio program I was sent to the UK to work with Campey Turf Care systems. A sports turf machinery dealer for many top sporting clubs in the world. I spent 5 months there working with all types of tractors and machinery as well as being able to visit many major football stadiums and training venues. Best of all getting to talk turf with some of the best groundsman and greenkeepers in the UK and Europe.

On arrival to Australia I started working with Nigel Taylor at Airgronomics, where we did contracting work the Air2g2. A tough job trying to introduce a new piece of equipment into the turf industry in Australia. I spent a year working there before a full-time job opportunity came up at Suncorp stadium which I pursued. In October of 2017 I was awarded the job at Suncorp stadium to be the third full-time groundsman. Working at Suncorp I was able to be a part of a team that obviously maintained a sports field to the highest of standards. I spent about 2 and a half years working there before a job head grounds curator.

In March of 2020 I moved to Darwin to be the grounds curator for a company called SterlingNT. Sterling have recently taken over the contract for several stadiums in Darwin including TIO Stadium, Warren Park and Larrakia Park (Darwin football stadium). The major fields here being TIO which hosts major games including NRL, AFL and international cricket.

TIO Stadium was opened in 1991 and holds a capacity of 12,500 people which makes it opportunity came up in Darwin to be a

the largest stadium in the Northern Territory. It holds 2 fields. The main field which is Legend couch and the 2nd field being a mix of green and blue couch and also carpet grass. Warren Park is a specialty-built rugby league venue which opened in May of 2019. It hosts 3 fields. All 3 fields being green leaf park couch. It has a 1250 seat grandstand and grass hills which boost the capacity to 10,000. Finally, Larrakia park or Darwin football stadium. Opened in 2007 it provides Darwin with an international standard soccer facility. It has 2 fields which are both Empire Zoysia. It has a max capacity of 6,000.

Coming from Suncorp stadium and now being in a leading role looking after about 10 hectares of sports fields my job looks a lot different. Going from 1 field to 8 fields while being the only greenkeeper on site my work is spread out a lot more. However, when it comes to the maintenance of TIO it is very similar to Suncorp being a sand

based field and have the same variety of turf. Being that sterling are new to these fields I have been free to maintain them my own way rather than having to change or keep certain practices from taking over another greenkeeper. I have only been working here for about 3 months, so I have just been trying to keep my head above water rather trying to make a name for myself by doing anything drastic.

For this coming year I am hoping for us to just get ourselves settled in and optimise how we are going to manage all of these fields. It is a lot of work for not many people and for myself I just need to work on my time management and planning ahead for everything that we are doing. Making major improvements can be a long and frustrating process however we plan to have all fields at the highest standard when it comes to major games.

The biggest win for me since being here has been just that. Moving myself away from friends and family to pursue my career has been a scary and daunting task. The opportunity however has pushed me to come here and give it everything I have. It is also giving me the opportunity to start my turf podcast. There is always plenty going on here so plenty to talk about. Every single part of the management side of things have been difficult for me. This has been a step up in roles and something that I am having to adjust to. Being a government contract there are a lot of people you have to go through to get things done. still being new this is something we are trying to overcome.

A typical week for me is sitting down and planning out all works I am doing for that week. At the moment its usually mowing, spraying, scarifying, aerating as well as trying to walk over as many fields as possible to assess any issues.

Covid-19 has made this new job very difficult. We were caught in the process of buying equipment for this contract when spending was shut off and left us without some essential gear for renovations. Luckily, we have some very friendly and helpful neighbours, so we have been able to borrow equipment to get our works done. It has also made it more difficult to get extra staff to assist when I am busy getting renovation works done. As I said I am the only one full-time looking after everything, so I have had to learn very quick and do some long hours to get the job done.

Lucky, I do this because I love it. Alex Jensen

TIO stadium