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/32290
F.O.Y. Field of the Year Henderson says, “The biggest chal- lenge in maintaining this field is the amount of use it receives from March to November with the expectations that it be maintained in tournament condi- tion every day...” Daily tournament conditions make for Field of the Year winner T HE 2010 SPORTSTURF MANAGERS ASSOCIA- TION BASEBALL FIELD OF THE YEAR AWARD in the Schools/Parks category was presented to Vince Henderson, turf manager for Glen Allen Stadium, Glen Allen, VA at last January’s STMA Ban- quet in Austin, TX. Henderson, who might be the only turf manager in the country with a BA in Economics, is responsible for maintaining 88 irrigated athletic fields, seven clay tennis courts, and 23 lawn and landscape areas. Before coming to work for Henrico County in Virginia 7 years ago, Henderson had used his turfgrass management degree from Horry-Georgetown Technical College in Myrtle Beach as a golf course superintendent for 12 years. Full-timers on the award-winning staff included Jason Melton, Tim Coleman, Steve Speas, Ed Branch, Mike Acors, Mike Turgeon, Eugene Dodson and Lee Dodson. They were assisted by seasonal employees Phillip Saunders, Ethan Arnold, and Dave Maidens. Glen Allen Stadium was built in 1993-94 and the field was com- pletely renovated in 2006-07. Henderson reports the field saw about 715 hours of action last year, all of it baseball. It features Tif- Sport bermudagrass, maintained at a 5/8-inch height of cut, and is www.stma.org overseeded with Allied Seeds ASP 6000 series blend @ 500 lbs. per acre, which is cut to ¾ inches. The rootzone composition is 90% sand, 10% Dakota peat and the drainage system is a modified her- ringbone drain tile under a 4-inch gravel layer. Henderson says, “The biggest challenge in maintaining this field is the amount of use it receives from March to November with the expectations that it be maintained in tournament condition every day. A typical week is practice or games Monday through Thursday, two games on Friday, five games on Saturday, and three games on Sunday. Of course, district and regional tournaments for Babe Ruth, American Legion and local high school teams are on the schedule, as are some college showcase games, various clinics and some AAU travel team practices. “Our staff takes great pride in all of our 88 fields and strives to maintain the same safe and well-conditioned fields at all our sites. We work hard with the every day user groups to move around as much as possible during practice time, and we typically ask that batting practices be held in the cages to reduce wear on the mound and home plate. “As you might expect we have the typical wear areas at first and third base, in front of the mound and walkways from the dugouts SportsTurf 37