Apprenticeship student wins grounds manager of the year award

Congratulations to apprenticeship student William Rigg, who studies Level 2 Sport Turf Operative at Askham Bryan College, on his win of grounds manager of the year award at Grounds Management Association 2025.

The GMA awards, held at Anfield Stadium , celebrated the achievements of professionals across the sector from the past year, with Rigg picking up the most prestigious award of the night, which he didn’t know he had been nominated for.

Rigg joins previous winners such as Manchester United, Twickenham, Murrayfield and the All England Club for his current workplace Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club.

He said: “It’s brilliant for me and the whole team at Ilkley, to beat someone like Wimbledon, with the resources that they have, it is just great to be recognised. I didn’t have an inkling about the other award at the end of the night. There were no nominations for that as it was the best of the best so I wasn’t expecting it, I wasn’t ready, I was just sat there listening and I was totally surprised when my name got read out.”

He added:”It was a 50-50 call that we would get it as far as I was concerned. It is coming up to three years since I have been in charge at Ilkley and the courts have been getting better year on year and we have been getting good feedback.”

(Image and quotes provided by The Telegraph and Argus)