Careers in turf management, not just another day at the office...

Enjoy the outdoors? Interested in sport? Then a career in the sports turf industry could be for you! Around 4000 people are employed full time in the NZ sports turf industry. Employment opportunities include:

• Golf Course Superintendent
• Cricket Pitch Curator
• Bowls Greenkeeper
• Turf Manager with a Council
• Turf Management Contractor
• School Groundsperson,
• Race Course Manager (NB: specialised training for race course managers is available through Equine Industry Training Organisation).

Sports turf managers have the challenging task of managing a natural turf environment to meet the unique surface demands of sport. Advances in turf management technology and the performance demands of sports facilities have increased the need for specialised sports turf training and qualifications for turf managers. Achieving sports turf qualifications provides the ideal means of advancing in the industry.

Most trainees achieve sports turf qualifications by workplace based training through the NZSTITO. The Otago Polytechnic offers the National Certificate in Sports Turf Management (Level 4) as a two year full time Polytechnic course.