GMA Young Board

SETTING YOUNG PEOPLE UP WITH GROUNDS FOR SUCCESS

Brad has been on the board for the past four years helping to inspire young people to take up a career in grounds. After getting a taste of the industry at just age 14 assisting the club groundsman of a local semi-professional football club, Brad has moved up the ranks and is now head groundsman at Lincoln City Football Club giving him the industry knowledge to help the next generation who are at the very start of their careers.

Why did you decide to get involved with the GMA Young Board of Directors?

I kind of fell into it! I was at SALTEX about five years ago and my manager at the time knew someone on the Board. It came up in conversation that there was an opening available and my manager thought it would be something I’d be good at and signed me up there and then! The rest is history and I’ve been on the board ever since. 

What’s your role on the board?

My role is currently around the events side of things, organising events and tying in key ones such as SALTEX. We’re currently planning the ‘Schools into Stadia’ at my ground, Lincoln City for March. We mainly look at the different ways we can impact young people and be seen and active.

What do you enjoy most about being involved?

I’ve been very fortunate to meet a lot of influential groundspeople and go to some very nice venues through my work with the Young Board. Having direct access to Geoff Webb, CEO of the Grounds Management Association is something that’s been a real benefit. It’s an in to people who are very influential within the industry - I know Geoff personally now - I wouldn’t have that if not for this experience.

What do you most hope to achieve?

We’re looking to get kickstarted with a really good events programme in 2023. What with COVID and a change in strategy, things have been slow and difficult in that area in particular and we can’t wait to get this in motion. We’re excited to see the reach and impact of what we can do and try to encourage young people to join the industry. 

Ultimately if just one young person signs up as a result of an event that we’ve put on then it’s well worth doing – because let’s face it, there’s not many of us.

Where do you work and what does that involve?

I’m the head groundsman at Lincoln City Football Club. I’m solely responsible for the football stadium and the training ground pitches, surrounds and landscapes. It involves budgets, meetings, liaising with coaching staff, planning. A lot more goes into it than just cutting grass which is sometimes what people think. 

I’m very fortunate at Lincoln, the work we do is appreciated and we’re valued as a department, something that’s been highlighted over the past couple of weeks – a lot of games at venues around us have been called off due to the frost, but we’ve managed to keep playing and only lose one game. That really highlights how important our job is and how if we don’t do our job, the business effectively fails. Which is a good way to look at it, I think.

How did you get into the industry?

I’m basically a failed sportsman. I was playing an okay standard of cricket, but didn’t quite make it as a professional. Then when I was at university I needed a summer job, I knew a few people within the professional cricket circuit through various things, and I found out that the grounds staff was looking for summer help. I thought it would be good getting to watch cricket and be around the environment of professional cricket, so did that for a summer and got hooked on it. When I finished university, instead of pursuing my degree subject, I decided to get a full-time groundsman job and the rest is history. 

This just illustrates why the Young Board is so important actually, because we don’t want it to be a case of people falling into the industry, like I did, we want people to come into it through school, wanting to do this as a career.

What’s your advice to those thinking about a career in grounds?

My advice would be to reach out to someone – your local or professiona sports club. Pick your favourite sport and go to your local football club or cricket club or whatever it is and reach out to the head groundsman to see if you can volunteer on a match day. Initially you get a once in a lifetime experience being on the pitch at a professional stadium, but it also gives you a full insight into the day and what you see at 3pm on a Saturday. I think that’s a really good way of testing the water. If you enjoy it, speak to the grounds staff and ask if they want a hand on another match day or if you can come in during a non-match day to see what happens during the week. 

What’s the best bit about working in the industry?

Nine times out of ten when you speak to people in the industry, they’ll say as soon as you get involved, you’re hooked. It’s quite an addictive industry and it has to be considering the time, effort and hours that goes into it. Ultimately the best thing about our industry is that everyone is willing to help everyone. If you go round five stadiums and ask if you can work a match day, I guarantee at least half of them will come back and say, ‘yeah not a problem!’