AstroTurf announced Rob Mitchell as director of rugby. This announcement helps renew the company’s commitment for creating rugby fields that meet the highest performance standards for safety, durability and performance.
“Growing up in England, I was always a big fan of rugby, and my love for the game grew even greater when I spent a season shadowing the head coach for the Oxford University RFC,” said Mitchell. “It is such an exciting sport and one that is growing rapidly in the U.S. I am excited individually, and we are as a company, to be providing high-quality artificial turf surfaces for rugby that meet all World Rugby official requirements for safety and performance. We look forward to being for rugby what we have already proven ourselves to be in other sports, The First Name in Turf.”
Mitchell is a veteran of the synthetic turf industry, and has built his life around sports and competition. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sport Studies from De Montfort University in Bedford, England and an MBA in Sports Management from DePaul University. He has coached at the Illinois level of the Olympic Development Program, and has his coaching licenses from US Soccer, NSCAA, and UEFA.
Mitchell resides in Chicago, and is an AstroTurf regional sales manager in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.