SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/517437
42 SportsTurf | June 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com Our crew consists of two full-time workers and one graduate assistant. This would be a great size crew but the soccer is only a small part of our responsibilities. We also maintain baseball, soft- ball, football practice, sand volleyball and common areas. Being a part of a small facility and operations department we also serve as game administrators for games and help out at our sports arena. We spend about 10 percent of our time on the soccer field. In April we showcased our field when it hosted our football spring game. The game was scheduled at a high school but 48 hours before we were informed the field was double-booked. We already had three men's soccer games scheduled for that day. The field held up excellently. This was not from two days of work but a result 4 years of cultural practices to get the field to where it is today. The football staff was so pleased with the surface they decided to make this an annual event. We believe our field is as good as any in the country. We do more with what we have than any other field out there. SPORTSTURF: How did you get started in turf management? What was your first sports turf-related job? Slaton: Growing up I wanted to be a pro baseball player. It was clear in high school that wasn't meant to be. In high school I worked at a plant and garden center and I loved everything about the job, so when I found out there was an industry that combined plants and sports I said sign me up. I went to Penn State for Turf- grass Science without any prior experience in turfgrass. After my sophomore year I knew I needed some hands-on experience so I was an intern for the Milwaukee Brewers working with Gary VandenBerg and Raechal Volkening. Half way through my first day working with Gary and Raechal, I knew this was what I want- ed to do for the rest of my life. And as they say the rest is history. ST: What channels of communication do you use to reach coaches, administrators and users of your facility? Slaton: I don't think there is one single way that works for com- municating with everyone. College athletics is unique because I have worked with coaches that range from their mid 20's to their mid 80's. So it's all about finding out how each coach works and adjusting. We have started a Twitter account that allows my younger crew members to be creative and helps give our users (coaches and athletes) an inside look at what we do. ST: Any tips on communicating well? Slaton: On my interview 5 years ago here at GSU an administra- tor told me "you have to tell the coaches what they need to hear not what they want to hear." I have lived by that my entire time here and I believe that has helped to build a level a trust between myself and the coaches. The coaches know and trust I will do everything I can to give them the best surface possible, but if I say we can't get it done they trust me. [Building] this trust takes time, it doesn't happen overnight. ST: What specific job responsibilities do find most enjoyable? Slaton: We don't have the newest and most state-of-the-art fields and facilities so I really enjoy being creative and finding outside the box solutions to make things work. We have a master plan for a new downtown complex in the works so we are not looking to spend a lot of money on the current complex but still need to give it the attention and detail that it needs. So, I really enjoy finding new ways to solve problems and improve the fields and not spend a lot of money. ST: How does the student/athlete recruiting process impact your work? Slaton: The possibility that a recruit could be visiting any day of the year keeps us on our toes. We always have to make sure the field and complex are presentable and clean. Until 2 years ago we never overseeded soccer because it was the offseason sport and we directed our resources toward baseball and softball which were in season. But, a major factor in beginning to overseed soc- cer had to do with recruiting and when a recruit drives into the complex a green overseeded field portrays a much more positive image than a dormant field. ST: What changes if any are you considering or implementing for the winning field in 2015? Slaton: We will be hosting the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Wom- en's' Soccer Tournament in November. We usually hold off on overseeding as long as possible because our coaches like to play as much of the season on just Bermuda and we may have one game in November that our color isn't great for. But, with the confer- ence tournament being on TV and being in November we will be overseeding much earlier this year and at a much higher rate. In the past we would go down with annual ryegrass at 10 lb/M in the be- ginning of November. This year we will be switching to perennial ryegrass and will go down late September with 15 to 20 lb/M. We are also kicking around the idea of fraze mowing. I have yet to hear someone that has done that say "boy I wish I hadn't." ■ ST FIELD OF THE YEAR