On 31st March the Institute of Groundsmanship ran a Foundation Part A course on Spring/Summer preparation and maintenance of the Cricket Sq and Outfield at YMCA run by Len Smyth .The following received Certificates for attending the course -
YMCA - David Streek, James Smith, Jack Tector, Dale McDonagh Kinkade, Callum Donnelly,
Clontarf - Bryan McDermott
Pembroke - Ronan Malin
Bagnelstown - Bernard OMara
Oakhill - Russell Andrews
Civil Service - Tara Byrne, Conor McElhinney
Dundalk - Derek Mulholland
North Kildare - Gerry Fennell, Tony Reilly, Michael Curran.
The LCGA would like to thank David Streek and YMCA for facilitating the event.
Also thanks to Rob Kenealy for putting the event together,and the LCU for their sponsorship.
Day 2 saw Len visit 10 clubs in the Leinster region to assess their condition and offer advice
based on their crease's profile analysis. 7 groundsmen were given detailed verbal information on their pitches present condition and presented with options to improve the quality of the pitches under their control. Much of this work needs to be done during Autumn Renovation time at the end of the season. The tour ended with a pint of the black stuff at Malahide where Len got a chance to view the new international ground in its advanced stage of development. On the whole an excellent two days .
For experienced groundsmen we will be running a Level two course during the summer to assist their development. Prior to end of season we will run an Autumn and Winter Level 1 course.
The next stage re development , from an educational point of view is to encourage suitably qualified candidates to become Pitch Inspectors and work with the clubs and LCU Grounds Committee on a regular basis. More anon.