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/40933
STMA in action | Andrew Heck Building an international network one contact at a time With established members abroad, the prospect of new members, and its culture of sharing information, the STMA Board of Direc- tors began exploring opportunities internation- ally. A new task group was formed in 2010 by then-President Chris Calcaterra, M.Ed., CSFM, CPRP, to define STMA's role on the international front. He placed Abby McNeal, CSFM as Chair of the Task Group. President Troy Smith, CSFM subsequently created the International Com- mittee from this Task Group a year later, with McNeal also at its helm. Other committee members include: Murray Cook, Ken Curry, Paul Gillen, Roberto Gurgel, Johnathan Knight, CSFM, Gil Landry, Ph.D. Marcela Munoz, Don Scholl, CSFM, John Sorochan, Ph.D., Rene As- prion, and Matt Williams. One of my goals as STMA intern was to de- velop a comprehensive list of potential inter- national contacts for the STMA. With the loyalty and camaraderie of the membership domesti- cally, the international market seems like a natural fit for STMA to extend that network. A majority of those contacts targeted were pro- fessors and department heads in various col- leges, universities, and other higher learning institutions abroad. It is crucial that they know how important academics are to the profes- sion. I informed them about potential oppor- tunities to speak at the STMA annual conference, as well as having their research published in SportsTurf magazine. Both of these activities add to their credibility and to the reputation of the STMA. My email communication was in English and language proved to be a small speed-bump on the road to communication. McNeal also sees language as an issue. "The biggest obstacle would be connecting with the appropriate peo- ple in other countries and not letting thou- sands of miles and language barriers slow the process of sharing information," she says. The vast majority of the educators' contact informa- tion was easily attainable, but some required a translation. As these relationships progress through STMA and as global networking advances in general, cross-border communication should not be an issue in the future. STMA also has plans to create its resources in multiple languages. US-based academics also advise quite a bit on sports fields abroad and give formal presen- tations to scientific audiences and to sports turf groups. STMA academic board member Pam Sherratt has asked her peers to promote STMA to the appropriate people during their travels. To help them communicate the STMA message, I developed a PowerPoint presentation that 42 SportsTurf | September 2011 they could add to the end of their slide shows. Also introduced to STMA were international sports organizations. These groups span the globe from Argentina, France, to New Zealand. Since safety of athletes is a top concern for the STMA, it was necessary to make these groups aware of the resources offered through the STMA website, including best management practices for field maintenance that help to protect athletes. Many commercial companies are working internationally and have contacts. STMA com- mercial representatives Chad Price, CSFM and Rene Asprion asked their peers to introduce the association internationally and to provide their contacts to STMA for follow up. Building relationships through these key contacts is a very important way to promote STMA to new groups. Another goal of the Inter- national Committee is to help sports turf man- agers form into organized groups internationally. Although this is a long-term ef- fort, there is some recent progress in Brazil, thanks in large part, to a committee member. Roberto Gurgel, Executive Director of Re- search for Sod Solutions, Inc., has been work- ing with his contacts to help the Brazilian Sports Turf Organization to get up and running (official name is ABGE, Associacao Brasileira das Empresas e Profissionais de Gramados Es- portivos). Some members of this new organiza- tion came to the National Conference in Austin, TX this past January. Currently, STMA is providing the resources and information for this professional organization to reach Interna- tional Affiliate Organization status (IAO). The affiliation was developed to formalize collabo- ration between STMA and international organi- zations. To reach IAO status, the group of sports turf managers must be recognized as a business entity in their country and provide proof to STMA annually. They must develop by- laws or other governing documents, and they must elect a Board of Directors. Headquar- tered in Guelph, ON, Canada, the Sports Turf Association (STA) was the first to gain IAO status in December of 2009. Another goal of STMA's international efforts is to establish strong relationships with other allied international associations. The efforts of President Smith and Chair McNeal have been key. In the fall of 2010, Smith spoke at a confer- ence for the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) in the UK. Likewise, Ian Lacey, Director of Edu- cation for IOG will speak at STMA's annual con- ference this January. Since STMA and the IOG are similar organizations, the collaboration and sharing of information and resources will help them to serve their members better. STMA and the IOG relationship is an area for continued growth. McNeal has also been an ambassador on the International front for STMA. In 2009, Mc- Neal traveled to Singapore to give a presenta- tion at the Singapore National Parks Board Regional Turf Conference. She spoke on envi- ronmental efforts on sports fields in the U.S. Being the Chair of the International Committee, McNeal sees South America as the starting point based on the information the committee members have gathered this year. "Chile and Brazil are our two strongest areas of having connections, and the sports turf managers there are eager to learn from our organization," says McNeal. Helping create a platform for the International Affiliate Organizations to get started is also an important objective. "Once we have them 'hooked' on STMA then they can start providing educational opportunities to sports turf managers in their areas of the world and raising the quality of sports turf managers and fields worldwide," she notes. All members on the International Commit- tee are making great efforts to promote the value of STMA to other areas of the world. At such an early point in its development, it is hard to evaluate progress. The success the group has made so far is worthy of note and is in step with McNeal's overall goal for STMA's in- ternational efforts. "I would like to see STMA as an international leader in providing education to sports turf managers on best management practices," says McNeal. My work experience here has made me real- ize that those involved at every level of the as- sociation truly care about the services they are providing. I anticipate those in the industry overseas to become familiar with and take ad- vantage of the resources STMA has to offer. I am looking forward to watching these advances for the next 5 or so years down the road be- come a positive step forward and a huge suc- cess for STMA. ■ Author's note: As an intern, I was fortunate to work with this committee as well as be a tempo- rary staff member for STMA. It has been a pleas- ure to learn about this service-oriented, non-profit organization and how it conducts business. Before I began my summer internship, I really did not know what kind of work experi- ence I would gain. Doing research and compos- ing communication materials was an excellent experience, and I was surprised how much my education at Benedictine College really came into use. Thank you STMA for the experience. www.sportsturfonline.com By