Shepparton Greyhound Racing Club workers taking major steps through Australian-first track maintenance training program

However, with the launch of Greyhound Racing Victoria’s Australian-first track maintenance training program, a clear path has been paved for workers to upskill in their field.

It just so happens that Shepparton Greyhound Racing Club is a major beneficiary of the initiative.

The pilot program took flight in December 2023 with four trainees — one of whom was stationed in Shepparton — to be mentored by experienced supervisors and supported by greyhound racing clubs throughout the state.

Cue Nathan Groom.

The Longwood native was raised by the rail, and with a surname and skillset like his, it made him the perfect candidate to step forward into the cut-and-thrust of curating SGRC’s track for perfect performance.

“I live in Longwood... my mum works at the track and so does my father; right now my father’s the head curator,” Groom said.

“I’ve been in the greyhound industry pretty much my whole life; my parents have been in it, grandparents too.

“I’ve learnt some stuff off them before, but now that I’m in this traineeship I’m learning even more from them.

“I really like this industry, all the people in it are very nice, it’s very interesting and I just wanted to learn more about how I can do more in the industry.”

Groom has been molding his craft at the Shepparton track for the better part of six months now on a five-day, 38-hour-a-week basis.

His day-to-day workings involve clearing the grounds and tidying up before the routine track work begins.

Recently, Groom was even given the keys to the tractor to sweep the course — a big highlight of the job for a young man who grew up watching greyhounds tear along those very straights from the starting box to the finish line.

But while races are often done and dusted in 22 seconds flat, Groom wants to build a career that lasts a lifetime in the profession he was born to pursue.

“I’d like to get a full-time job out of the industry. I really like this industry and I want to try and hopefully prove it,” he said.

“It’s very exciting, something’s always going on. I’ve always loved that aspect of this industry — there’s never really a dull moment.”

Someone who knows all too well of the thrills and spills of the job is Joey Larosa.

He’s been working at SGRC for six-and-a-half years and has climbed the ladder's rungs to become the club’s track and facilities manager.

Yet, when the chance at a formal qualification arose, Larosa didn’t hesitate to enrol in the track maintenance training program alongside Groom.

“I like to try new things and the opportunity was there, so I took it,” he said.

“The surface of the tracks, the operation of the lures; there’s all different types of things — now I’m starting to learn outside of the track, the gardening, I’m starting to learn all that part of it too.

“It obviously boosts your knowledge more around everything that you didn’t know.

“When you’re just working you’re just learning on what you see, but the books are a different story.”

When all parts of the pecking order are busy learning and thriving, that leaves the person at the top tickled pink.

Carl McGrath, SGRC manager, had nothing but niceties reserved for the launch and execution of a specialist track curation program.

“It just means these chaps are getting the best of knowledge from experts around,” he said.

“Where it’s great is bringing new people in and training them in the best practices, but it’s also great to have our own people who are already here to also put them through.

“Joey’s going through the course now and we’ll have other people later on; the existing people are getting a formal qualification and teaching them the best practices.

“They get a lot of experience talking to different people, so it’s all about improving our tracks and improving our expertise in the area.”