Dennis and SISIS and the Staffordshire Football Association have announced a new partnership which is set to benefit grassroots pitches throughout the county.
For nearly 100 years Dennis and SISIS have been providing world class turf maintenance equipment; from Premier League to grassroots sports clubs, there are solutions available to suit all surfaces and budgets.
The two British manufacturers have been long-term supporters of grassroots sports; frequently offering training and education to eager-to-learn volunteers. The new partnership with the Staffordshire FA is set to benefit grassroots football and will be a key component in the Football Association’s goal of improving a total of 20,000 grass pitches across England over the next decade.
“We have just over 1,100 pitches in total across the county,” said Staffordshire FA Partnerships and Communications Officer, Gareth Thomas. “This consists of local authority pitches, educational sites, privately owned pitches, and that is everything from 11-a-side down to mini soccer. We’ve got approximately 500 clubs which equates to about 2000 teams, and we want all of those teams playing on the best surfaces they can.”
Toby Clarke, of Dennis and SISIS, praised the work of Staffordshire FA and revealed the companies delight at being a part of the programme.
“The Staffordshire FA is a very pro-active organisation and Gareth and his team, which consists of Andy Jackson (Stoke FC Grounds Manager), Kevin Duffill (GMA Regional Pitch Advisor) and Kevin Staples (Staffordshire FA Head of Delivery), work extremely hard for grassroots football.
“We are looking forward to supporting Gareth, Andy, Kevin and Kevin, out in the field to help provide the clubs with the right machines for the right jobs.”
The FA’s grass pitch improvement strategy has been a huge success with over 6,000 pitches already benefiting throughout the UK. The strategy enables grassroots football clubs, who manage and maintain their own pitches, to gain significant funding to support them in improving their pitches on an annual basis.
Gareth continued: “I have been challenged, as part of my role, to try and generate partnerships which can help our grass pitch programme be as impactful as it can be.
“For us, having such a recognised partner as Dennis and SISIS on-board, adds a huge amount of value to what we are trying to achieve. We want clubs to have the right equipment for the job and we know that Dennis and SISIS supply that equipment – they have a fantastic track record for doing that in this county.
“We look forward to having the support of Dennis and SISIS – not just for the equipment but also from the educational support they provide as well.”
A video about the partnership can be viewed by visiting https://youtu.be/fPFpyX3h9Ck
Further information about the range of maintenance products available can be found by visiting www.dennisuk.com / www.sisis.com.
