The Pitchmark Groups' directors, Mark and Sue, travelled to the Republic of Ireland to attend the 4th annual ESSMA Summit at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Day 1 of the event began by networking with some of the other 375 guests, before a very interesting tour of the incredible stadium and facilities. Whilst on the tour, there were insightful presentations from companies like Campey Turf Care Systems, Vogo Sport and Genetec.
Following a number of engaging talks and the announcement of the next Summit location – Porto, Portugal in 2019 – they were treated to some drinks and traditional Irish dancing.
Mark Rodman, Managing Director of Pitchmark, on the pitch at Croke Park with two Hybrids in action.
Day 2 was focused into different areas, and so Mark and Sue attended the Pitch Management workshop. There was some excellent talks and discussions from the likes of Ole Myhrvold, Facility Manager at the Norwegian Football Federation, Yves de Cocker, GrassMaster Solutions and Yasser Al Mulla, Senior Manager, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
They were also treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the pitch and associated facilities by Majella Smyth, Head Groundsman at the Aviva, which proved to be very useful.
The following day, the pair went along to another top-class stadium in Dublin – Croke Park – where the head groundsman had recently taken delivery of two of new Hybrid markers for the pitch along with paint. The staff there were very welcoming, and it was great to meet some Pitchmark customers to talk line marking in-depth!
They also had time for discussions with Pitchmark’s Irish distributor John Walsh of Sports Line Marking that evening, which involved very exciting plans for the future!
One of the new Hybrid markers on the pitch at Croke Park
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