A NEW ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR OUR GROUNDSKEEPING NETWORK

In an effort to continue improving football pitches across the country, The Football Association and Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) have worked in partnership to create a free online Groundskeeping Community, where groundskeepers from across the country can communicate with each other.

From volunteer groundskeepers to experts from across the industry, grounds staff can work together to share good practice, knowledge and advice – as well as asking specific questions regarding any issues they face throughout the season.

Available 24/7, the online groundskeeping community will be regularly updated and will help to:

• Build knowledge and understanding on key operations of pitch maintenance throughout the year

• Connect with fellow groundskeepers and share experiences

• Seek expert advice on getting the most from the pitches groundskeepers manage

Throughout the football season, The FA and IOG will be posting videos and news articles related to pitch improvement, as well as sharing good practice from across the regions. The site has recently gone live with some great interaction already between volunteer groundskeepers and experts from across the industry.

We are now encouraging the groundskeeping network across Staffordshire to embrace the site and all of the resources and platforms which can be accessed on there – and hopefully benefit from the content provided to help improve your own pitches.

In order to sign up to the site, please follow the link below:

thefa.hivelearning.com/groundskeeping/

Once registered, the Hive Learning App can also be accessed (iOS or Android) for an easy way to access the online community on the go. 

Should you require any support in accessing the site, please email: help@hivelearning.com 

As the site develops, we will potentially look at creating a Staffordshire online community in order for groundskeepers across Staffordshire to continue networking with each other 365 days a year, in addition to the regular workshops and courses we put on. 

But in the meantime, we’d encourage all groundskeepers to embrace this new method of support and hopefully benefit from the content it provides.