Q&A: Good earthworm, bad earthworm Pleasant View Sports Complex BOULDER, CO - PWBBWB f V7 Ta,» .•: < SSlœiiP- •i;- ALSO INSIDE: .. r - . .. What's your next career move? iw SNISNVI isva (01) 3AI8Q 31D8ID M 99£ Repair and protect your online reputation 831N3D NOIlVWaOdNI SSV89d8fll sue 0V3H S000 WVH9NDI00D 313d Why decompaction is important X90S 00T ^£10X9X^8^ IS 0£S Dav 03XIW -11a Ia 1111a I -111a 1 a 1111a Ia I " 111111a 1111111 " 11111 -111111111111 " 11 •Mil' OFFICIAL PUBLICATION 300 COLLEGE COACHES DESCEND. 500 GIRLS TEAMS DIG DEEP. 24 FIELDS BECOME ONE GIANT STAGE. "Just for kicks." The real action at the 2015 Girls Bethesda Premier Cup happened the week before. For the turf manager and his crew. See dreams coming to life, hard work pay off and one stage bring it all to a dramatic finale. The Maryland SoccerPlex has a story. Watch it: JohnDeere.com/Sportsturf Trusted by the Best. SportsTurf SportsTurf • MANAGERS ASSOCIATION STMA SOURCEBOOK The premier online resource connecting sports turf industry professionals with the most relevant products and services Cost-effective way for manufacturers and suppliers to connect with STMA members Buyers can eliminate lengthy search engine efforts by using STMA Sourcebook ••••I Created jointly by STMA and SportsTurf magazine STARTING LINEUP April 2016 I Volume 32 I Number 4 FEATURES Facilities & Operations 8 What's your next career move? 12 Ten steps for repairing and protecting your online reputation 14 Make science-based decisions to protect your playing surfaces 18 Fields & Futures: igniting success one field, one coach, & one student at a time 20 The "Battle of Trenton": a debate over safe playing fields The SportsTurf Interview 24 Bob Curry, president of Covermaster, Inc. Field Science 28 Breaking up is hard to do: Why it's important to decompact your fields 30 Constructing sand-based football and soccer fields: excerpts 34 Selected quotes from Applied Soil Physical Properties, Drainage, and Irrigation Strategies 2015 Field of the Year 36 Schools/Parks Sporting Grounds: Championship Field, Pleasant View Sports Complex, Boulder, CO Tools & Equipment 42 STMA COMMERCIAL MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Hydraway Drainage 43 Installing the Super Bowl sod DEPARTMENTS 6 From the Sidelines 47 STMA Chapter Contact 7 STMA President's Message 48 Marketplace 17 John Mascara's Photo Quiz 49 Advertisers' Index 46 STMA In Action 50 Q&A ON THE COVER: Sometimes an empty field is beautiful to everyone, not just the turf manager! With the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop, the 2015 STMA Sporting Grounds Field of the Year in Boulder, CO sure looks inviting. 4 SportsTlirf | April 2016 www.sportsturfonline.com PUTS THE TO BED m\ J v i'J V- 9/ I» K k Payload Capacity, Power & Comfort The all-new Jacobsen Truckster XD heavy-duty utility vehicle features the largest and toughest bed in the industry. With a massive0 and thick wM>F«^^^^»^^thf JSrTfithee Truckster XD hauls more sod, more rocks, more sand, more of anything you need to move. That means less trips, less time and less work. Only the all-new Jacobsen Truckster XD can make easy work of your toughest jobs. Visit www.jacobsen.com or your local Jacobsen dealer to schedule a demo. 1.888.922.TURF | www.jacobsen.com J/\COBS=l\l 02016 Jacobson division of Textron. All rights reserved. SAFETY IS EPG Media & Specialty Information 10405 6th Ave. N., Ste210 J0B#1 Plymouth, MN 55441 The Official Publication Of The Sports Turf Managers Association Eric Schroder SALES REPRESENTATIVES Editorial Director Chris Pelikan [email protected] Senior Account Manager - East Phone:(763)383-4408 763-383-4458 [email protected] Peggy Tupper Senior Account Manager - Mid-West f you ever get a chance to attend a see a showcase field, they will ask 'Why not Phone:(763)383-4429 presentation by Dr. Andy McNitt my field?' and they'll start asking for more [email protected] of Penn State,don't miss it. He's a resources for you." Leslie Palmer Imatter-of-fact, entertaining presenter Andy recommends seeding all the time. Senior Account Manager - West who IVe witnessed at state, regional and "Put down 50% of your seed before the Phone:(248)731-7596 national meetings and he never disappoints. first (football) game, then use the other [email protected] Most recently I caught him at the Keystone 50% bi-weekly or after each varsity home EDITORIAL Athletic Field Managers Organizations' game," he said. He referenced a famous study Group Publisher David Voll annual conference speaking on "Prioritizing by former Iowa State professor Dr. Dave Editorial Director: Eric Schroder Technical Editor Dr. Joey Young Limited Resources": Minner that tried to discover when putting Art Director Jean Blackmer Andy began by saying if you don't get your down more seed was no longer worth the Production Manager: Karen Kalinyak drainage right, you're wasting any money investment; Minner quit when he reached SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES you might spend on improving your field. 200 pounds per 1,000 square feet and his Phone:(845)856-2229 With 80% of compaction occurring in the graph line was still going up. His final Fax:(847)763-9569 top 3 inches of the rootzone, the solution recommendation was 30-35 lbs/1,000 as [email protected] might be rebuilding the field's crown, he said, optimum and ideal use of your money. REPRINTS recommending a 1 Vi% crown. "The soccer And, at least for the Pennsylvania climate Robin Cooper coach might hate that but just tell him it is 1% during the playing season, he recommends [email protected] and he'll never know the difference," he said. overseeding 100% with perennial ryegrass. GROUP PUBLISHER Several times Andy advised to ask for more Using Kentucky bluegrass (KBG) is a waste David Voll people after documenting where your time is of money even though KBG is the best [email protected] spent. Show administration how much time choice when it's mature and well maintained. DIRECT MAIL LIST SALES you spend trailering mowers, etc., and explain If you can plant KBG in early September MeritDirect, Jim Scova how if you and others were able to spend and not play on it until the following May, Phone:(914)368-1012 [email protected] more time actually mowing what a difference that is ideal but raise your hand if that's your that would make in your fields' health. He's a situation! Andy referenced a study from big fan of mowing and mowing often. "Mow Dr. Bill Dest at UConn that showed mature correctly, mow often, use a quality mower and KBG is more wear resistant but "younger" EPG / SPECIALTMEDIAY INFORMATIO0N change your blades every 40 hours," he said. ryegrass is more wear resistant than "young" He also urged the audience to keep mowing KBG (tall fescue falls in between the two, heights consistent, explaining how many mature or not). turf managers let their football field grass I've shared only some of the highlights grow higher during the summer, then whack from Andy's presentation, of course, and off more than half of it in late July/early here's how he ended it: Keep asking for more August, just in time for hot weather and people, work to get your coaches on your renewed foot traffic; the "triple whammy" side, and partner with the band to fund raise of stresses, he said. for your fields. The band as your friend — Andy told the crowd it was important to who'd have thunk it? EQ create a "showcase" field instead of spreading your resources around all your fields. "If all your fields are average, then administration will think you're average; when coaches 6 SportsTlirf | April 2016 www.sportsturfonline.com SportsTurf • MANAGERS ASSOCIATION THE YOUTH OF President: Jeffrey Salmond, CSFM Immediate Past President: TOMORROW Allen Johnson, CSFM President-Elect: Tim Van Loo, CSFM Secretary/Treasurer: Sarah Martin, CSFM Vice President Commercial: Jeff Salmond, CSFM Doug Schattinger Professional Facilities: [email protected] Dan Bergstrom Academic: Beth Guertal, PhD Higher Education: started playing baseball at the age leagues are no longer in existence. There Nick McKenna, CSFM are many kids missing a chance to play Parks & Recreation: outdoor sports. Jimmy Simpson, CSFM K-12: Bobby Behr.CSFM But, could it also be a lack of safe, playable I of eight. My dad was the head coach Commercial: athletic fields for children? In Oklahoma Randy Price for the team my brother and I played City there has been a movement to improve Elected-at-Large: on for my Little League years. I played Weston Appelfeller, CSFM dilapidated fields at the grade, middle and Elected-at-Large: baseball through high school and helped our junior high school levels. Fields and Futures, Jeffrey Fowler team win its first-ever state championship founded by Tim McLaughlin and his wife, Chief Executive Officer: (even though I did get picked off in the Kim Heck Liz, started renovating and improving championship game!). I also wrestled and athletic fields in the OKC public school STMA OFFICE played football but high school was as far as system (see page 18 in this issue). Fields and 805 New Hampshire Suite E my athletic abilities would take me. Lawrence, KS 66044 Future is a 501c3 charity using local and Phone: 800-323-3875 Fax: 800-366-0391 The future of the sports turf industry could regional resources to help their cause. OKC Email: [email protected] be determined by the amount of activity public schools is the largest school district www.STMA.org from our youth in outdoor sports. Without in the state; at the middle school and high STMA Editorial Communications Committee student-athletes being outside, enjoying school levels we were seeing a steady decline Chairman: Sarah Martin, CSFM nature, and playing on our athletic fields, in youth sport participation, and Fields and TJ Brewer, CSFM; Joe Churchill; Jim Cornelius, our industry could suffer.