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Schoolsinto Stadia scheme gives localsecondary school pupils atasteof theindustry

The GMA's Young Board ofDirectors has held the first Schools into Stadia event since the COVID-19 pandemic. Held at Lincoln City FC's LNER Stadium during the GMA's #GroundsWeek campaign, the initiative's aim was to showcase a groundsperson's role within a sports stadium environment to young people.

The Schools into Stadia scheme forms part ofthe GMA's 'Get into Grounds' strategy, which looks to encourage GCSE-level students, school leavers and young people to consider a career in grounds management.

The GMA's Young Board, with support from the Lincoln City Foundation, invited a group oflocal secondary school children to the home ofthe Imps to raise awareness ofwhat it's like to be a groundsperson and to help them understand more about the wide range ofcareers available within the groundscare sector.

The youngsters were able to try their hand at some ofthe day-to-day tasks ofa groundsperson, as well as develop a deeper understanding ofhow subjects such as biology, maths and geography have strong links to the skills required to work within the industry.

Theory And Practice

The experience day was split in two, with students attending a theory session where they were shown the basics ofsoil nutrition and sustainable maintenance methods, before heading into the stadium to carry out a pitch assessment. They then joined a practical session, which included showcase stations that offered information on how pedestrian cylinder mowers, verti-draining and the use oflighting rigs were important to pitch maintenance. The students also got to try their hands at line-marking on the stadium pitch.

After the event, Brad Jefferies, head groundsman at Lincoln City FC and member ofthe GMA Young Board, said: "It was great to get the students thinking about grounds management in a fun, educational and hands-on way. It's important that we encourage more young people to join the industry to ensure we can continue making sport possible in the future."

Having spent the day learning about groundsmanagement and testingtheir skills in somemaintenancetasks, one student said: "It's great to see how it all works behind the scenes. We got to understand things that you don't get to see from the outside and how much work goes into putting on a sports event."

Following the success ofthe event, the GMA Young Board, with support from Reesink Turfcare, are busy planning future Schools into Stadia events to inspire young people at other venues and locations across the UK.