![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/03\/GroundsKeeperGGramma_82114.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
More complicated than simply cutting grass, Edwards and his team work months in advance to ensure every playing surface is up to scratch.<\/p>\n
Weather watching has become an essential part of his daily routine.<\/p>\n
“I’m on BoM every day, twice a day. There’s a massive reliance on the weather; I feel like a farmer relying on the rain,” he said.<\/p>\n
With cricket starting to wrap up Edwards is already preparing for the football season.<\/p>\n
Different sports leave the fields in varying condition, and each demands its own preferred grass type. With matches constantly being played and students needing access, Edwards and his team are tasked with pulling off small grassy miracles each year.<\/p>\n
Add in the battering the fields take during non-school use \u2013 including the Melbourne Storm’s annual pre-season camp \u2013 and there’s never a dull day.<\/p>\n
“At the moment we’ve got a summer grass \u2013 couch \u2013 that will go dormant over winter and will turn brown, so we over-sow with ryegrass at the beginning of April and that becomes the winter surface that football, rugby and soccer play on,” Edwards said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We do most of the work ourselves and get contractors in to help top sand it all. It’s a busy time over school holidays. We usually want 21 days to germinate the ryegrass, but we have about nine days, so it takes a lot of love to get it germinated and looking and playing well for the students.”<\/p>\n Edwards has played cricket and football his whole life and said preparations for their fields is especially gratifying. Cricket especially has a place in his heart.<\/p>\n “You start the week off with a blank canvas and by the end it’s something you can be pretty proud of,” he said. “That’s the one thing the groundsmen really do get recognised for, the cricket pitches.<\/p>\n “It’s something I really pride myself on, that it’s a good pitch for batters and bowlers.<\/p>\n “I just want it to be really aesthetically pleasing for the students and parents and players that come along to Geelong Grammar too.”<\/p>\n Five years of training through an apprenticeship, followed by a graduate diploma in sports management \u2013 the first of its kind awarded in Australia \u2013 has set Edwards up for success.<\/p>\n He’s looking forward to applying his new knowledge to improving his and his team’s work at the school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THEY’RE blamed when something goes wrong and forgotten when things go right, but without turf managers thousands of athletes would be unable to take the field each week. Sam Edwards always wanted to work in sport, but as a banker, he couldn’t see a way in. It wasn’t until he toured Real Madrid’s Bernab\u00e9u stadium […]<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/03\/GroundsKeeperGGramma_82113.jpg\")