Jason Booth made the move from aspiring professional cricketer to grounds management.

He is now Chief Operating Officer of the Grounds Management Association (GMA) and has responsibility for the Pitch Advisory Service (PAS), funded by Sport England, with the aim of achieving continual improvement in the playing surfaces at an estimated 75,000 grounds used for recreational and community sport.

Since its formation in 2014, Jason says that the PAS has collected extensive data on the quality of pitches used across recreational sports and that almost 90% of those surveyed have shown improvement - and this has resulted in increased available funding.

The podcast is 45 minutes and includes

(01:55) From professional cricketer to grounds management

(05:05) PAS origins and role

(10:38) Changing sport participation and engaging volunteers

(15:50) Access to PAS resources

(21:02) Benchmarking pitch standards

(25:55) Disruptions from weather, vandalism or pitch quality

(30:30) Impact of Covid on recreational sport

(34:26) Perception of grounds staff and career path

LINKS

Pitch Advisory Service

Grounds Management Association

Sport England