these Open Championship Clubs choose to relief grind - Pitchcare

Keynote
This first in a new series of interviews with some of
the sports turf industry’s leading individuals features
someone who is considered by many to be the
groundsman’s groundsman.
Eddie Seaward MBE has been the Head Groundsman
at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon
since 1990; he is due to retire later this year
following the staging of the Olympics tennis
tournament at the venue.
A groundsman since he left school at the age of 16,
Eddie has been an active proponent of
groundsmanship and the industry, and is held in the
highest esteem by his fellow professionals. His service
to sport was recognised in 2008 with the award of an
MBE.
It is an unprecedented year ahead for Eddie and the
club, but he is facing the change and the challenge in
his calm, inimitable way
KEYNOTE
interview
Eddie Seaward MBE
THE
Pitchcare - with the Olympics at
Wimbledon this year, I don’t suppose
you’ll have any time to put your feet up?
Eddie - I wish. We’re all really looking
forward to the Championships and the
Olympics. What a great honour it is.
There’s only a couple of weeks in
between the Championships ending and
the Olympics starting, so it’s going to be
quite a challenge to get the grounds and
the grass ready again. However, whilst I
say there is a two week gap, in reality
there is only two days before we have
players practising here, plus we have to
keep members going at the same time.
It’s going to be quite a juggling act.
Also, we have to deal with all the logistics
of the two events, which is what we are
going through at the moment - new
security fences being erected, changing
the marquees, cameras being installed
10 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012
etc., whilst we are busy working on the
courts. That’s a nightmare as well as a
challenge. As you can imagine it’s all go.
Neil Stubley, our Head Groundsman
Designate, is certainly coming in at the
deep end, but we work well together.
You can’t knock it, it’s going to be great
fun.
Pitchcare - What sports were you
involved with in your younger days -
were you a tennis player?
Eddie - No, I played football and cricket;
I never really got the opportunity to play
tennis at school. Some people may
consider it ironic that I have ended up at
the home of tennis, but you don’t
necessarily need to have played the
sport, it’s all about understanding what
the sport needs. When I first came to
Wimbledon, I worked with the referee
Alan Mills and I learned a lot from him.
I was very lucky in that respect.
Pitchcare - How did you become a
groundsman?
Eddie - I got interested in
groundsmanship at school. I used to help
out the caretaker at my secondary school,
marking out the pitches and whatever
else was needed, so I developed an
interest and went straight from the
school into the industry. We had a
sportsmaster who doubled up as the
careers master, and he knew me better
than I knew me. He recommended that I
go for a groundsman’s job to start with,
at a local public school, which I did. And
so it went from there.
Pitchcare - What would you consider has
been the highlight of your career?
Eddie - Going up to the Palace and