22Mar2017

Close-up: John Ledwidge, host of the ESSMA Pitch Workshop, 10-11 May 2017

ESSMA will organize its first event of 2017 in Leicester, at the King Power Stadium and LCFC training center. John Ledwidge and his team, together with ESSMA Advisory Committee member Jonathan Calderwood, will welcome us for the Pitch Workshop on 10-11 May

John Ledwidge, a keynote speaker during ESSMA’s Pitch Workshop in Paris last year, holds the position of Grounds Manager at Leicester City Football Club and was recently named the second most influential figure in the Turf Care industry.  

“We are part of a great industry. Full of people that want to learn and share ideas, and it really is easy to access information because we are quite open. I would like to believe that if anyone at any level thought they could learn something from us here at LCFC, then the door is wide open for them to do that.”

John Ledwidge, Head Grounds Manager @ Leicester City FC

One of the topics that will be covered during the Pitch Workshop is tools and technologies. Technology never stops growing. Therefore, events like the ESSMA Pitch Workshop are an ideal opportunity to discuss latest trends amongst colleagues.  

Technology is ever evolving and I feel that we as groundsmen and as an industry must embrace this, whilst understanding there is an element of good judgement and experience that all come together to help us produce the highest standards. The evolution of turf technology, with hybrid pitches, lighting rigs and products that we apply to the turf has made us all more like mad scientists and botanists”.

John Ledwidge, Head Grounds Manager @ Leicester City FC

John reckons that openness in his industry is important: “I would like to believe that if anyone at any level thought they could learn something from us here at LCFC, then the door is wide open for them to do that.” The ESSMA Pitch Workshop provides an ideal occasion to put this idea into practice.

Networking, sharing, learning, they are all core values of ESSMA. Join us in Leicester on 10-11 May 2017 and get insights from speakers like John Ledwidge (Leicester City Football Club), Jonathan Calderwood (Paris Saint-Germain F.C.), Reece Watson (Arsenal FC) and The IOG.  

“Events like these are really important for the networking element of the day as I’ve met some people here that I really wanted to meet. I’m sharing experiences with them about what we do and listen to how they manage things. Sharing experience and how to overcome certain obstacles within pitch management with a group of experts was a big eye-opener for me.”

John Ledwidge on ESSMA Events

 


Posted on 22/03/2017 in: