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/126035
your pushing an agenda that decision makers don't understand or appreciate. Go through the checklist as you think about your ball park. Better yet, walk your field and really see what you have. Make notes about each topic. This checklist is a condensed version, but you can use it as a guide. For example, do your base paths look like a gully washed through with the sides higher than the middle? Write it down. This is a safety issue. Do you have a base anchor sticking up at third base? Write it down. When we look at the Little League complex in our case studies, the assessment shows us that: • The 4 ball fields are overused and overrun • There are inconsistent maintenance practices by all field users • There are a variety of drainage and puddle problems The high school assessment indicates: • Under maintained turf and infield dirt • Drainage and water coverage problems, and • Inconsistent practices year round, especially summer and fall And the assessment for the college ball field at a Park and Rec facility shows: • Weak turf with lip buildup • Infield dirt that is either powder or hard as rock • Inconsistent/poor maintenance practices by the users In each of these situations, there are specific improvements to make. These range from using better equipment, to adding more dirt, to improving the turf, to being consistent with field maintenance practices. You may already work hard on your fields; but sometimes working hard is not good enough. You have to be smart, too. If you are like me you don't have an unlimited amount of time and money to spend on your sports field maintenance and upgrades. So, how do we identify and prioritize our improvement efforts? What should we spend time and money on? And how do we know the projects we pick to work on really keep our sports field safe and playable for our players? The answer is the assessment checklist. www.stma.org I help manage the fields at a local Little League complex. There are five ball fields for ages 6 to adult. Each spring and fall I use the checklist to help identify new and ongoing needs. From that I put together a budget proposal for the board. That way they see exactly what I suggest and why. It makes the work visible and gets their support. Now let's look at some specifics from the assessments. THE BEST THING FOR IMPROVED DIRT MAINTENANCE Build and regularly use a nail drag. Go slow in varying patterns and stay away from the grass edge. This will turn a dry, hard in- SportsTurf 23