Pembroke People: The Sportsground Manager
Sportsground Manager Trevor Munns is approaching his 30th year working for Pembroke. He joined Pembroke in 1989 as Assistant Groundsman at 19 years old and has seen a lot change in Pembroke and in College sport since. He spoke to Kit Smart about life at Pembroke.
Trevor has always been a sport person. His speciality is football, and he’s played in and managed semi-pro football teams. Originally he’d planned to join the army as a physical training instructor, but while he was waiting for a post to come up his dad pointed out the assistant groundsman job at Pembroke. He was thrown in at the deep end, learning a lot from other groundsmen as well as his own mistakes. Despite the hard work, when the RAF rang with a physical training post a few months later Trevor turned them down, and has never applied for another job since. He became Head Groundsman in 1991.
So what does he do? The core of the job is caring for the grounds themselves; the various pitches and courts that make up Pembroke sportsground. Trevor also tries to ensure games happen whenever possible (even if it’s raining), and looks after the hedgerows, trees, and allotments surrounding the sportsground. It’s a varied job, changing with the seasons.
Trevor points out that a lot has changed since 1989. Under Trevor’s care the quality of the pitches has become extremely high (“manicured, I think is a word that’s been used”, he says), and more facilities have been added, including an astro-turf and netball/basketball court. The pattern of student sport has also changed; while it was once a weekday activity only, now sport happens mostly on weekends. When Trevor started football happened on Mondays and Wednesdays, and Tuesdays and Thursdays were for rugby.
Once the students discovered Trevor was a football player he was quickly roped into Cuppers football games, scoring against Jesus in the semi-final his first year on the job. Unfortunately staff weren’t actually allowed to play, so he had to sit the final out. Pembroke were beaten by Downing College that year. In total Trevor has seen Pembroke football team reach the Cuppers final 7 times, five of which have been in the last six years. Unfortunately Pembroke also lost all of those games, but Trevor points out that simply reaching the final so often is a huge achievement, especially for a team often coming up from the second division of the league.
The biggest change was the addition of a flat in 2008. Traditionally the groundsman lived on Selwyn Road. When Trevor became Head Groundsman he moved out from his parents’ house into Newnham Croft Street, where he stayed for two years until moving across to Selwyn Road. The grounds were at risk from people breaking in or non-Pembroke people coming to play sport, so Trevor suggested that having the groundsman on site, as was done at other Colleges, could solve the issue. Since the flat was added he feels it’s improved both the security and the feeling of the sportsground; students coming to play squash or other sports in the evenings are greeted by a friendly face instead of an empty pavilion.
That good relationship with the students is important to Trevor. He says, “I like to treat them as if they’re each my boss. I think it’s important the students know that when they come here they’re respected, treated correctly, and if there’s anything I can do for them I will.”
The recent men’s football Cuppers final was Pembroke’s fifth in six years, and despite Pembroke’s loss Trevor is still proud of the team:
“In some ways with cuppers final we were the underdogs and we worked on a strategy to nullify their strengths. It worked until the last 5 or 6 minutes! We overachieved in a lot of ways. We were third in division two, whereas Fitzwilliam won the league, won cuppers last year, had a lot of Blues in their team. One of the great things about the Pembroke team is that they’re really bright. I’ve coached pros and if you try and tell them something they know it all already. You tell the Pembroke team, they want to listen and soak it up. You suggest what you want them to do and they just go out and do it. And they’re so appreciative as well. They turn up on Tuesday mornings, they do their training, they’re super committed. To get to five finals in six years, some have been as division 2 teams, they deserve a lot of plaudits. The Pembroke girls team deserve a mention, too. They’ve had two teams and no other college has that. A lot of colleges join together with other Colleges, and we’ve got two teams training.”
After 30 years on the job Trevor knows the sportsground inside and out, and his affection for Pembroke and Pembroke’s students is clear.
“Pembroke has become a massive part of mine and my family’s life… I’m so proud to be a part of the Pembroke tradition and the student body in a way. They are a credit. I’ve also been very lucky to work for really good Bursars. In their different ways they’ve all helped me. I can’t really thank Pembroke enough for what it’s given me to be able to do as a career. I’m just really grateful I fell into this.”
Now Trevor is on the lookout for new challenges, alongside his groundsman work, and is training to be a life coach. He’s also offering free sessions to Pembroke staff and students. Get in touch with him here to request a session.
“Pembroke were very supportive, and enrolled me in a course at Madingley with a view to being able to support staff and students. So I’m about to complete undergraduate certificate in coaching, written two dissertations and have one more to go. For someone who hadn’t studied since 1986 that was quite a challenge! It’s a series of conversations where I work with my client to explore any issue they bring to coaching.”
“I’ve really enjoyed it, and it’s something I can offer as well as being groundsman. Students can come to my office here, get away from College a bit, and talk about whatever they want. Anybody can come and see me. I’m quite excited about it. And for Pembroke to support me to do that, I’m really grateful.”