A host of industry-leading companies and sports governing bodies have already signed up as sponsors of this year’s IOG Industry Awards being held on 1 December at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium.
The Awards recognise the important contribution by volunteer and professional groundscare staff to the sustainability of British sport and best-practice groundscare across a multitude of disciplines and technologies.
With categories embracing sport, grass roots, young people and the environment, a wide range of companies and organisations have so far pledged their support:
- AFT Trenchers – joint sponsor of Professional Football Training Ground Team of the Year
- Bayer – Grass Roots Sports Ground of the Year
- British Sugar (Topsoil) – joint sponsor of The Alex R Millar IOG Professional Football Groundsman of the Year
- Campey Turf Care Systems – joint sponsor of Professional Sports Ground Management Team of the Year
- Charterhouse Turf Machinery – joint sponsor of Best Maintained Artificial Pitch of the Year
- Cleveland Land Services – joint sponsor of Best Professional Football Training Ground Team of the Year
- DLF/Johnsons Seed – joint sponsor of The Alex R Millar IOG Professional Football Groundsman of the Year
- Everris – Lifetime Achievement Award
- Imants BV – joint sponsor of Professional Sports Ground Management Team of the Year
- Kubota – joint sponsor of Best Maintained Artificial Pitch of the Year
- Mark Harrod Ltd – Volunteer Sports Groundsman of the Year
- Ransomes Jacobsen – Environmental Project of the Year
- Rigby Taylor – joint sponsor of Young Groundsman of the Year
- Sanli UK – Innovation in Grounds Maintenance
- Top Green – joint sponsor of Young Groundsman of the Year.
In addition, sports governing bodies including the ECB, the Football Association, the Lawn Tennis Association, Rugby Football League and Sport England are all supporting the Spectator Sports Ground of the Year Award.
Hosted by talkSPORT Radio presenter Mark Saggers, the IOG Industry Awards will be presented Oscar-style in front of a packed audience, who will then be addressed by former professional cricketer and now Chairman of the ECB Selectors, Geoff Miller.
After 20 years in professional cricket with Derbyshire, Essex, Natal and England – including 34 Test matches, 25 one-day Internationals and seven overseas tours – Geoff’s entertaining repertoire includes a host of hilarious anecdotes and stories about himself and his cricketing colleagues.
The audience is promised a presentation that, according to Geoff, “will be equally as stimulating as when I faced Michael Holding and Dennis Lillee, or bowling at Viv Richards and Ian Botham – who I roomed with on tour for five years!”
Visit www.iogawards.com for full information.