DEPUTY chairman David Robinson spoke of the four pillars that hold the Institute of Groundsmanship’s (IOG) Yorkshire branch together at their annual meeting at Cleckheaton Sports Club.

He said in his annual report that they were “the willingness of excellent industry speakers and sponsors who support the meetings, the sterling effort put in by Keith Johnstone and John Hawksworth at Cleckheaton Sports Club, all members and friends who regularly attend the meetings and contribute to the camararderie, raffle prizes, cakes and overall ambience, and the small band of committee members who tie it all together.

“Should any of these pillars begin to creak, the other three may begin to lean, despite all the goodwill generated to bind them.”

He also said that it was a great pleasure to listen to branch president Keith Boyce at the ordinary meeting in December, even though he brought news of his impending retirement.

Robinson added: “Keith, you are inspirational and are the reason that so many are committed to excellence in groundsmanship.”

Branch secretary Rod Heyhoe stated in his annual report: “Your committee believe that we are here to help all the groundsmen – from professionals to amateur volunteers – to raise their profile and improve their knowledge and the playing surfaces in their respective sports and pastimes.

“Just over four years after the appointments of Jason Booth and his regional advisers running GaNTIP (Grounds and Natural Turf Improvement Programme), a lot of their time has been spent helping local county FAs, county cricket boards and rugby league clubs improve their pitches.

“With the young directors and your branch officials working hard for the cause, I think we are moving forward and also encouraging the younger end into the business with apprenticeships and training schemes.

“This raises the profile of groundsmanship along the way, and it is good to see younger people attending our branch meetings, but there are not as many as we would like.”

Among the trips that the branch undertook last summer were visits to York Racecourse and Leeds United’s training facility at Thorp Arch.

The branch’s annual award was shared by all of their members, while the guest speaker at the annual meeting was former Telegraph & Argus journalist Bill Marshall.