Entries are now welcome for the Hampshire FA Grounds Team of the Year Awards, sponsored by Fleet Line Markers.

The awards this year will be conducted locally as a Hampshire FA Grounds Team of the Year award. Together with our partners at Fleet Line Markers, clubs at step 7 or below are invited to enter their facility to be judged by a local panel of experts who will determine awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.

The team of grounds professionals will individually judge each pitch before determining the winners who will be invited and awarded at Hampshire FA’s Grassroots Football Awards ceremony which this year will take place in the Mick Channon suite at Southampton FC on Saturday 25th June 2022.

This award is open to grounds teams who maintain pitches for clubs at step 7 or below only, celebrating the unsung heroes of grassroots football, who despite all weather conditions are out in force, to ensure the pitches are safe and well-maintained for training and match days. Grounds teams up and down facilitate matches for around 90,000 teams and it is only right that they are rewarded or at the very least, recognised, and celebrated for their tremendous efforts.

Recognise a grounds team, be it an individual, or a team who are absolutely core to the game and are deserving of reward and recognition by contacting our Facilities & Investment Manager, Sacha Nicholas (Sacha.Nicholas@HampshireFA.com).

Please aim to provide the following details to help speed up the process of your nomination:

• Name of grounds people
• Name and address of your club
• Contact details for the nominated grounds team
• Reasons why you have nominated this grounds team
• Pictures of the pitch
• Contact details for your club secretary

Nominations are open from midnight on 1st February 2022 and will close at midnight on Thursday 24th February 2022.

Following nominations, clubs will be shortlisted and visited by the judging panel (visits will aim to take place on 3rd March but may be subject to change) who will assess each nominee by set criteria, taking into consideration the club’s resources, equipment, budget, pitch usage, and unique challenges. The successful groundsmen will then be contacted and invited to attend the Hampshire FA Grassroots Football Awards ceremony at Southampton FC where they will be presented with a certificate of their achievements.

An additional presentation ceremony will be conducted in partnership with Fleet Line Markers post-event on a separate day (clubs will be contacted once arranged). Winners will be invited to a tour of a professional club facility and presented with some additional prizes which will include Super C paint for 3rd place, a Blinder for 2nd place and a line marking machine and Super C paint for the 1st place winner.

Be a Hero, nominate a grounds team today.