University of Leicester's Sports Grounds Team win prestigious award

The excellence of the University of Leicester’s grounds keeping has this week been recognised with a distinguished Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Award - the most prestigious competition in sports turf management.

The University of Leicester beat off stiff competition from Loughborough University and the University of St Andrews to win the University/College Grounds Team of the Year Award.

The 10th annual IOG Awards took place on Wednesday 31 October at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole and included participants from across the sports world including Leicester Tigers, Leicester City FC, Warwick Racecourse, Manchester City FC, Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne and Edgbaston Cricket Ground.

The University takes pride in having the best facilities to play and compete at the highest level and the grounds staff are key to that. The quality of the University’s sporting facilities continues to contribute to student sporting success. Earlier this year, Leicester once again beat local rivals De Montfort University in the annual Varsity sporting competition, continuing an unbeaten run.

Adam Tester, Gardens and Grounds Manager at the University of Leicester said: “This recognition from the IOG is a true testament to the dedication and hard work that the Grounds Team put in week after week. The high standards that they are setting have a real positive impact on our student experience especially Team Leicester.”

Geoff Webb, IOG Chief Executive said: “Once again we have enjoyed a bumper number of nominations for the awards. The quality has really been exceptional – with the judges commenting that some of the applications have been the best they’ve seen in the awards’ history – and a host of new nominees have come to the fore, too.”