SportsTurf

FIELD SCIENCE 14 SportsTurf | June 2016 www.sportsturfonline.com During a tournament I completely shut down automatic irrigation practices. You will have enough to worry about this week; the last thing you need is a stuck valve to delay or cancel games. You will still need to irrigate; but make sure someone is manually turning valves on and off, and watching the irrigation system either before games begin or after they end. Be sure to have an inclement weather plan in place and share this infor- mation with your team beforehand. This should closely mirror your normal inclement weather plan so most team members should be familiar with it. Tournaments can bring long hours and stress for everyone involved. To try and curtail this, monitor staff morale and try to stay ahead of any problems that may come up. Lead by ex- ample; stay level headed while also showing the importance of event details and deadlines. Stay calm and cool under pressure, your crew will mirror your behavior. Be neat and professional; do not let long hours compromise who you are, and hold your crew to these same standards. Keep your crew, especially crew leaders, informed of everything that is going on. Surprises and change can quickly derail staff morale. Keep a positive attitude and do not waiver to fatigue. Stay visible and work with each crew as much as possible. Rest only when no one is looking; it's just one week. Keep your crew well fed; do not let them become "hangry." Supply meals for each crew; either put it in your budget or work with user groups and concessionaires to provide meals. After the tournament is over try and reward your staff as much as possible. Have a group meal, look for a team building activity such as a softball game and if you can, shoot for a light workweek. Your fi eld most likely needs some rest as well. Ashley Valley Community Park Baseball Complex Weekly To Do List • Check irrigation • Edge pitcher's mound and homeplate area • Paint OF foul lines • Inspect backstop pads, batter's eye, and nets • Power wash bleachers and concrete around concession stand (Monday) • Brush concrete walkways (Monday and Thursday) • Paint bases • Mow; 3X per week – vary direction All edges and arcs should be edged as close to monthly as possible. Try and do this at least four times per year. We would edge before and after each season or league as well as before any tournament. If you are performing your daily lip maintenance this is not a labor-intensive task. Continued from page 10 Look for stressed areas that may need sod or fertilizer; irrigate as much as needed and roll and level your skinned areas. I believe the most important element in turfgrass management is that every day matters. Of course we all have events, tournaments and inputs that require extra work and effort; but if we manage our facilities properly day to day, those events can be much easier to deal with. Plan everyday like you are going to have a prestigious event at your facility; you never know when you may get one. Neil Cathey, CSFM, is grounds specialist for SSC: Services for Education. The experiences he describes in this article came from his time as parks superintendent at Uintah Recreation District, Vernal, UT. Reaching the industry professionals you want to reach! The OFFICIAL online directory: STMA Sourcebook is an online directory of manufacturers and distributors of equipment and supplies used by professional sports turf maintenance professionals, irrigation contractors, sports turf managers, professional grounds managers, custom chemical applicators, and other green industry professionals. OWN YOUR LISTING TODAY! Go to STMASourcebook.com, search for your company, review, update and own your listing. Not there? You should be! Get yourself signed up today. When you own your listing, YOU will have the power to make updates at your leisure. Consider upgrading your listing for more flexibility in making your company as robust as possible!

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