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/162108
ST: How did you get started in turf management? Novinska: I started in turf management without really realizing it. I was the district delivery/mail driver at the time. During the summer months, there would be a few slow days, so I asked if I could fix up some fields. This also helped the custodians, who at the time were taking care of the fields along with the interior of the building. So I started to fix up the high school's two baseball fields by removing lips as well as edging. The district soon recognized that this was important and created the groundskeeper's position in the fall of 2003. My only prior experience in turf management was working at my uncle's golf course for a couple of summers. I learned landscaping, weed trimming and topdressing the greens from him and the rest I taught myself by reading as much as I could, attending turf seminars and field days and completing two online certificate courses through the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Georgia. ST: How do you balance your work and personal time? Novinska: Balancing work and personal time has been good, and being in the K-12 level, isn't as big an issue because I only work 40 hours a week, a bit more during peak seasons. My family is very supportive. Novinska: I haven't made any major changes in 2013. I have been researching topdressing the stadium field with compost. There may be a small window of opportunity to do this yet this fall, but if not, I will try next year. ST: Are you yet involved in sustainable management practices? If so, what are you doing? Novinska: I'm becoming a little more involved in sustainable management. I soil test every year and have adjusted my fertilizer program because of the high rate of P and K, so over the past few years, I have only applied nitrogen. I'm looking into compost, and organic fertilizers. Installation of an irrigation system has helped me to manage water use. An irrigation system will be installed this fall on the practice football fields. This will help with water conservation by not having to occasionally water during the day. ST: How do you see your job changing in the future? Novinska: I see my job changing by the use of technology. Technology is playing a bigger part in the turf industry, with seed genetics to grow lights to even moisture testers, and it is constantly changing. Being the only groundskeeper, I need to find all the tools I can to help me get the job done. n ST: What changes are you planning to make or have you made to your maintenance plan for 2013, if any? www.stma.org SportsTurf 41