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/251524
10 SportsTurf | February 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com 2014 STMA President me with one of their practice jerseys," he says. "That I think told me that this is the profession I want to be in." In South Kingston, Pinsonneault had plenty of room to grow, liter- ally and figuratively. "Because it was a newly created position, I had an opportunity to build the department pretty much from scratch," he says. "We went from one full-time person, a couple of guys from the highway depart- ment and some seasonals to six full-time people who were able to take the department in a very positive direction." In 2000, Pinsonneault became public grounds superintendent for the town of Lexington, MA. In this role, he manages operations of the park, forestry, streetlight and cemetery divisions in the public works de- partment, including approximately 600 acres of land, 75 acres of ath- letic fields, four cemeteries, more than 3,000 streetlights and around 10,000 street trees. He also oversees 22 full-time employees. It's a bit of a different set-up in that recreation develops the pro- grams, staffs the programs and handles permitting, but maintenance is under the public works umbrella. The system requires more attention to coordinate with the parks and recreation department, but Pinsonneault quickly saw the benefits. "If I need a backhoe or to borrow two guys from another division, it's a lot easier to do," he says. "I have a lot of resources at my disposal." FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL Though Pinsonneault is arguably at the top of his game profession- ally, he still holds a special place in his heart for his first municipal job in Mansfield, MA. It's where he first learned the ins and outs of the sports turf industry, in many cases with the aid of some helpful col- leagues who would go on to become lifelong friends. One of those helping hands came from Bob Romano, a sales rep at the Scotts Co. at the time. "I didn't know the first thing about taking soil tests, and he was very helpful in setting up a fertilizer program," Pinsonneault says. Another colleague he credits with helping him learn the ropes at the start of his career is Eric O'Brien, a playground representative in Med- way, MA. "He helped me with the overall picture, getting me to step back and see that there was more than just the turfgrass that came into play for an athletic event," he says. Then there's Mary Owen, turfgrass extension specialist at the Uni- versity of Massachusetts, Amherst, who worked with Pinsonneault to take an integrated pest management guide for golf courses and adapt it for athletic fields. "(The golf course industry) had protocols they followed, and we needed the same thing for sports turf," Pinsonneault says. "David identified the need (for the guide), and the New England Regional Turf Foundation board agreed," Owen says. "We put together a very insightful and dedicated team of eight sports turf managers, and David was a key player in that. This is way above and beyond what these gentlemen normally did in their work day." Amazingly enough, that wasn't the most notable project Owen and Pinsonneault worked on together. They also played key roles in found- ing the New England Sports Turf Managers Association. Pinsonneault first got involved while in Mansfield and was elected to the group's board while in Rhode Island. That's where, as Owen at- tests, Pinsonneault bridged a disconnect between the New England chapter and the national organization. "The New England STMA started separately from national and was very separate for a long time," she says. "It had conversations with na- tional a few times about becoming a chapter, and we just couldn't quite come to an agreement for a number of reasons. We had tried hard for several years to work one out. It was a real conundrum. "David picked up the ball and had very respectful, productive con- versations that resulted in STMA really looking at how it crafts rela- tionships with its chapters. It was David that finally made that connection happen between chapter and national." That instance reflects Pinsonneault's abilities as a diplomatic leader, she says. "David doesn't get flustered. He's willing to work through problems to get to a good solution. And in that, he benefitted every- body—New England sports turf, national sports turf. He wasn't hesi- tant at all about taking on the challenge." Shortly thereafter, STMA adopted that agreement for the way all chapters were affiliated. His work to affiliate the New England chapter benefitted the indus- try in another way by spurring his motivation to become involved at the national level. But it was an anomaly that led Pinsonneault to his first position on the national board. In 2006, after a rare vacant position on the board opened up, it was up the STMA president at the time, Mike Andresen, CSFM, to ap- point someone to fill the position. Andresen's decision was easy. Having attended a few New England chapter events, Andresen had seen first-hand Pinsonneault's listening skills and problem-solving abili- ties, as well as the respect members had for him. "David was so tuned in with his analysis, it was very easy to see that the STMA board and membership would benefit from his personality and skill set," Andresen says. "As I asked colleagues for their feelings on appointing David, it was obvious the decision to appoint him was a no-brainer." A NON-TRADITIONAL PATH Pinsonneault's unorthodox journey came to a peak last month in San Antonio, where he was officially elected President of the STMA. What are his plans for 2014? One of them involves elevating aware- ness and recognition of the profession. "There's misconceptions and lack of knowledge about what we do," he says. "We want to get the word out to the public that there's a pro- fession that takes care of their fields and keeps them safe, playable, green and ready to go." In today's economy, Pinsonneault says the sports turf management industry is in remarkably good shape and he's positive about the future. "Similar professional associations have had challenges where they've had to cut their staff and cut programs to members," he says. "We don't want to do that. We're trying to add programs." The annual conference is one area demonstrating particular strength in the industry and organization.