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/560546
www.stma.org September 2015 | SportsTurf 29 spot seed with compost coverage. I also try to seed between the hash marks before every Friday night football game. Add these maintenance practices to some "good luck" that the scheduled events take place that will permit recovery and that events do not take place during excessive moisture conditions. Include pride when performing your duties and there should still be green between the hashes in November. MARCUS DEAN, CSFM, University of Kentucky On our practice football fields we cover with growth tarps from CoverSports between the hashes every Friday once games start. We leave them covered from Friday afternoon after prac- tice until Monday morning. I get my entire crew to stay every Friday to help complete this task. On the stadium field we used to use the same type covers based upon weather, but now it is synthetic turf, so I don't need to worry about that anymore. RICH WATSON, Pine Hill Public Schools (NJ) I am not sure there is one simple answer to this question. Over the years there were many different ways to keep turf between the hash marks on our football fields. One thing I would consider is to try and communicate with the user groups and attempt to set some limits on non-game activities. For example, try to convince the coaches that it would really help field condi- tions if they could move their Thursday or Friday walkthrough to the practice field. The day before "walkthrough" usually turns into a 2-hour or more practice with multiple series of plays run from the same spot on the field. The fact that they are in shorts and helmets may bring some relief to the players but doesn't help the field. Any cooperation you can get from the user groups will help keep turf in the middle of your field. While my first suggestion depends on the cooperation of others, heavily overseeding from the first time the cleats touch the turf through the end of the season is something anyone can do. It has been my experience that the only way to keep up with wear is to continuously seed. Broadcasting seed between the hash marks before practice or games will allow the players to work the seed in for you and hopefully allow germination before the next major event. Of course there are a lot of vari- ables that come into play when seeding like this but for those of us in the north, football season is the best time of year to seed. Heavily seeding your "field within the field" will go a long way to help keep turf there all season long. PETER THIBEAULT, CSFM, Noble & Greenough School (MA) To keep turf between the hashes you need to keep going all year. Most of our prep starts in June after graduation and when lacrosse ends. We will go in and core aerate in three direc- tions with a heavy overseed blend that is 50% bluegrass and 50% perennial ryegrass. Our seed rate down the middle is @ 10lb/1,000 sq. ft. I will also core aerate and heavy overseed again at the begin- ning of August; the field is used all summer for day camp, which is around 1,000 little kids so the field gets very little rest and the work needs to be finished early. During the season we will monitor compaction and aerate as needed to maintain optimum growing conditions. We over- seed throughout the season to help replace worn turf, and in late September we will start to use a straight perennial ryegrass blend to give quick cover. We follow a fertility program that is based off our soil tests and turf needs. We have started to add silica, which is a blend of silicon, calcium and other micros that help the turf perform better during the stress of the summer heat and the stress of the athletes. To manage the space between the hashes you almost have to look at that area as a completely separate space. Oh, and we do have a synthetic but that is for field hockey and lacrosse; soccer and football do not want to be on it unless they absolutely have to. ■ ST Home of the Overbrook Rams in Pine Hill, NJ.