Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/399958
24 TURF LINE NEWS >*;( at Fairview under the mentorship of Superintendent Arthur Riome, is a big part of why I am here today. After a couple years of watching my peers go back to college for their second and third years, I once again felt the push of post-secondary education. I enjoyed my job but felt as if I was falling behind. That's when I inquired about advancing my job as a groundsman into an actual career. Arthur put me in contact with Stan Kazymerchyk and the following year, I was enrolled in the Turf Management program at KPU. Stan was a real driving force in my decision to come to Langley and he also gave me the idea to pursue financial aid from the Ministry of Social Development. With an already sizeable student loan from my trial year at UBCO, finding funds to achieve my goal proved to be difficult. It was at that point where I went to my local Open Door Group. I told them that I worked seasonally at Fairview and wanted to morph it into a career that allowed me to work all year long and not go on EI every winter. On that platform, I worked through a few months of paper work which resulted in complete sponsorship that allowed me to pay for college and follow my ambitions. It is incredible the amount of resources available in this awesome country we call Canada, sometimes all you have to do is ask. If you are interested in training for a career, contact your local Open Door Group that has locations all across the province. For me, they were able to provide a grant that coverred my entire tuition as well as help pay for books and supplies, travel costs, food costs, and any other living expenses that I have. Apply in advance. They don't ask for the money back but there is a lot of jumping through hoops that needs to be done in order to obtain funding. With the proper diligence and ambition, you too can be on the way to a rewarding career. Now that I am on my way to a lifelong career, opening that door and following through was the best decision I've ever made School is back, with 10 returning students and 10 eager new ones. Tom Calder is leading the Turf Club this year. Fall fund raising activities include the Redwoods golf tournament, bottle drive, lawn bowling social and Grey Cup pub night with raffle. Proceeds from these events will fund student Conference 2014 attendance. Turf Club is also preparing for another Golf Rounds Raffle. Last years event netted $5,000 for WCTA Turfgrass Research. Special thanks to our generous turf industry partners who are tee sponsors for our major fundraiser, the Redwoods Golf Tournament Oct 4: WCTA, Taylors Turf Care, Terra Equipment, Target Products, Western Turf Farms , Prairie Coast Equipment, BCGSA, Brett-Young, Farm-Tek, TerraLink, Messner & Kenny Legal, Keso, Direct Solutions, Rollins, Premier Pacific Seeds TURF STUDENT BIO: WESLEY TREADWELL I think being born and raised in the Wine Capital of Canada has been a major catalyst for my interest in Horticulture. With 34 wineries surrounding the Oliver area and only 2 golf courses, it might be surprising to note that my real passion is in turf and not agriculture. However, if you've played at my home course of Fairview Mountain Golf Club, you would understand. In my senior year of high school, I felt a real push to quickly pursue a post- secondary education, especially since my hobbies of playing video games and socializing with friends wasn't going to pay the bills. The sentiment was this: if you didn't go to college, you would work at McDonalds' for the rest of your life; so after graduating from high school in 2011, I rushed off to UBCO without a real plan. I enrolled in the Bachelor of Science and quickly realized the downside of being pressured into a decision that potentially shapes the rest of your life. After the first year, I moved back home and opted for making money doing what I loved rather than spending money on something I have no interest in. Working *(47<:5,>:2>(5;3,5 KWANTLEN CAMPUS BY STAN KAZYMERCHYK, TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTOR 04(.,*9,+0;:;(52(A@4,9*/@2 League Baseball's season opener between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks that took place in Sydney, Australia this past March. One of the world's most iconic cricket grounds, Sydney Cricket Ground, went through a 20-day transformation into a baseball field fit for big league players with staff working around the clock to ensure the venue was up to the incredibly high standard. Even the infield clay, close to 300 tons of it, had to be imported from San Diego as the proper mix could not be found on the continent. The 2014 MLB Opening Series games at the SCG proved a massive success with crowd attendance of 38,266 and 38,079 respectively for Saturday and Sunday for a total of 76,345 fans across the MLB Opening Series weekend. Famed Los Angeles Dodgers announcer, Vin Scully, stated from his broadcast box in the SCG, "I love the ballpark. I can't believe this was not a baseball field (before); they've done such a great job." Jason Pick, WCTA Director and Turf Management Instructor at Olds College attended the May 14th stop at Centennial Park in Edmonton and reported another successful event with about 50 people participating. Unlike the Vancouver version where many of the attendees were little league volunteers, most of the Edmonton crowd were local municipal employees. On behalf of the WCTA, I would like to thank Major League Baseball and the provincial amateur baseball associations for bringing this opportunity to our region and we are happy to have forged new relationships with these groups. The level of education was at the highest level and we sincerely hope we can help coordinate similar events in the future. Out of left field, Murray Cook, Major League Baseball's Field and Ballpark consultant, sent me an email in early May to let the WCTA know about a three-stop educational series MLB was planning for western Canada the week of May 12th. The field days, perhaps obviously, had everything to do with ball field construction, layout and maintenance. The educational opportunity was designed for both municipal staff and little league volunteers and was a joint effort between Major League Baseball and Baseball Canada along with on- the-ground support from each of the host province's amateur baseball associations. About 25 people attended the Vancouver stop on May 12th, hosted by WCTA member Tom Archibald and his assistant, Trevor Sheffield, at Nat Bailey Stadium. David Laing of Baseball BC coordinated everything from breaks, resource material handouts and even take-home gifts for participants. Sponsored by Covermaster and Turface Athletics, much of the full day clinic was instructed by Chad Olsen, MLB's field construction and maintenance guru from Dallas, Texas. A wide range of topics were covered including mound construction, base layout and field dimensions, baseline edging, infield preparation, turf agronomy, drainage and more. An entertaining and informative powerpoint presentation was given by Murray Cook in the afternoon. It turns out the duo travels the world, consulting on ball field construction and maintenance for all the major baseball events including the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games in Athens and Beijing respectively. Most recently, Cook and Olsen spearheaded field preparation for Major WT NEWS ERR ROSSEA B eads est ONNET IT TA CHAD OLSEN, MLB FIELD CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANT, WORKS WITH VANCOUVER CANADIANS HEAD GROUNDSKEEPER ON THE PITCHER'S MOUND AT SCOTIABANK FIELD. IMAGES CREDIT ERRY ROUSSEAU WESLEY TREADWELL, FIRST YEAR KPU TURF STUDENT