SportsTurf

December 2012

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.

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F.O.Y. F i e l d o f t h e Ye a r PATRICIA WILSON FIELD, Stetson University, DeLand, FL CHALLENGES Having a very limited travel budget is offset by our ability to host many invitational tournaments each year. We may range from 1 to 3 weekend tournaments during our month of fall ball and 6 to 7 weekend tournaments during our championship season in the spring. The past 3 years we have also hosted our local High School District Tournament, as well as our own Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. With our own conference schedule, weekend tournaments, and regular season games, we have averaged 90-100 games per year on our field. Additionally, daily practice is conducted on our field by our own team. This creates a very special challenge since the majority of playing time is during February to May, when our bermudagrass is dormant. This is a huge reason why we overseed with winter ryegrass. This helps with the wear on the field which also aids in the cosmetic looks and appearance. 32 SportsTurf | December 2012 Hosting teams from all over the country makes a pleasant experience as well. We work on the main wear areas (outfield positions) throughout the season with additional seed and fertilizer. We removed bermuda turf in high shade areas of landscape and replaced it with crushed red rock (warning track material) in our picnic area. Redesigned the irrigation in common area to operate more uniformly and to compliment the landscape changes over the years. A wetting agent was introduced to facility and water management program. Additionally we paint our infield therefore the infield must be wet prior to painting. We did have times when we had to wet the lines and batter's boxes with a backpack sprayer, prior to painting, when the reclaimed city water was turned off. We have now designed and built a water device onto our sprayer to enable us to wet and paint at the same time on a dry infield. Level of Submission: College Category of Submission: Softball Head Sports Turf Manager: Steve Barnard Title: Field Maintenance Technician Education: Associate Degree, General Studies Work History: Former foreman for the City of DeLand's Sperling Sports Complex for 25 years. Complex includes 35-acre park (one full size baseball field; three adult softball fields; three soccer/football fields, and four practice areas, a total of 22 acres of bermuda turf). Full-time staff: Steven Barnard, field maintenance technician; Frank Griffin, head softball coach; Vanessa Bataille, associate head softball coach; and Joanna "JJ" Payette, assistant softball coach Original construction: 2002 Turfgrass variety: Tifton 419 bermudagrass Recent renovation: In 2010, the infield was tilled and laser graded; 23 tons of clay plus 1½ tons Turface added to infield; additional bullpen added on first base side; new scoreboard with full video display; replaced netting as needed throughout the complex; additional drainage added by practice area, hitting area, and first base dugout to help with washouts; palm trees added to landscape. We laser grade our infield annually or bi-annually to maintain the standard we set for ourselves; additions to the complex as well as improved existing facilities to reduce long-term cost and maintenance; maintain drainage slopes. We have crushed red rock (warning track material) within the facility (excluding infield); St. Augustine grass in the exterior perimeter of the facility; additional enhancements occur daily with new innovations and reconstructions. Overseeding: We overseed in late November or early December after an application of preemergent. We use typically 500 to 700 pounds of Eagle Supreme perennial ryegrass on our entire complex. Drainage: Sideline drains; slight valleys built into terrain emptying into culverts to retention area; field itself has a 1% grade to outfield. www.sportsturfonline.com

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