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: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/113699
F.O.Y. | Flour Field For any users of the facility, I try my best to be involved in the planning process as early as possible. Most of the staff knows to include me with information. In my opinion, having input early on in planning onfield events and games only helps the event run smoother and any dilemmas can be minimized. I can give input that most event planners do not think of at first as it pertains to the ball field. SportsTurf: Any tips on communicating well? Burgess: The "my way or the highway attitude" does not work as I have found out. In some cases it can be black or white and you can argue that, but it's best I have found to stay open-minded with anything presented to you. Games and events will get thrown on you at last minute, so instead of getting frustrated, I quickly begin to think of what my staff and I need to do to make things happen. I make sure the schedulers know of any limitations they have and what needs to take place for their event to happen, as well as how it's going to affect my plans for the field. Nine times out of ten, my plans for managing the turf are what usually have to change. Understanding that and dealing with it are important to know. Also, I make sure my entire grounds crew is familiar with where everything is stored and up to speed with the grounds crew "lingo" in case a scenario arises which requires immediate attention. The most important tip I can give besides these is to stay in contact with those who have helped and those you have met. These individuals are people I can call anytime of the day or night with any kind of question. There are countless times, I feel like I have no clue what I'm doing or what the next step should be. It's great to get someone else's perspective on situations. SportsTurf: What are your specific job responsibilities? Burgess: My responsibilities pertain to almost everything that's growing on our property. This includes everything on the ball field, two off-field bullpens, a large grass berm seating area in left foul territory, all surrounding grounds of the stadium, and numerous plantings and pots throughout the inside and outside of the stadium. Each bullpen has approx. 750 sq. ft. of grass that is maintain exactly like the field to use as sod farms. This has worked out great for 36 SportsTurf | March 2013 me to use as test plots and for when we need to do some small patches after our college tournament in late May. The outside grounds include general maintenance of mowing, fertilizing, pruning, and summer and winter annual installations. The outside grounds can be challenging to keep up sometimes with a small day staff during our minor league season. We have normal work to be done on-field each game day, so staying on schedule with our other responsibilities can be tricky. SportsTurf: What do find most enjoyable? Burgess: The most enjoyable part for me is working with my grounds crew. From game-timers to interns to my assistant, I have had some fantastic people working for me. I had a professor in Clemson that always said, "Surround yourself with great people." That's the mentality I keep when hiring new staff and the potential I look for in them. I enjoy seeing them grow and taking pride in the finished product come first pitch. We have developed a great team dynamic that shows when we are out on the field. SportsTurf: What task is your least favorite and why? Burgess: Probably the task I like the least is tarping the field. It is easy to tarp the field…in most cases, when I have enough help. But there are times when the tarp goes on or comes off with very little help. I'll do whatever I have to do to make sure we get a game in and we are not drying an infield before game time. The 2012 season had its fair share of tarping and even set Fluor Field records. We had countless storms that dumped buckets of rain either right beside the stadium and we didn't get any rain, or we got dumped on and the other side of the street didn't get a drop. On those days, the tarp was more than likely on the field. I am never opposed to the task of rolling tarp, but when it is on the field in our hot and humid climate, it was bound to play a role in our transition and the turf's performance. I'll give it up to the tarp crews; I worked their tails off rolling the tarp on and off the field. The amount of unfortunately timed rain played its part in our 2012 campaign of getting 350,000 fans through the stadium during the Drive season. Our record of three rainouts kept us just short at 347,700 fans. www.sportsturfonline.com