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/484138
E xpectations on today's sports fields are much higher than they were when many of us played Little League baseball or other sports. High expectations often lead to disap- pointing outcomes when fields do not meet the expectations of coaches, players, and parents. There is often a gap between what is expected and what is necessary to provide a safe, playable field. If that gap can be minimized by removing excessive expectations, priorities and dollars can be more focused. The primary objective when maintaining athletic fields at any level of play is to provide safe, playable fields for athletes. All too often, budget- ary limitations get in the way of proper care and maintenance of athletic fields. Although there is no universal budget- ary formula, some level of success can be achieved on most athletic fields. Understanding and applying essential cultural practices, as well as using outside sources; athletic directors, coaches, users, and sports turf managers can collaborate to provide healthy, safe, playable fields that meet those primary objectives of safety and playability. Have a plan Whether maintaining one field or 20 fields, prioritizing them can help determine where time, supplies, and maintenance should be allocated. Schedules of events, basic maintenance desired, equipment and resources needed factor into the overall plan. Distinguish high priority areas from low priority areas. For example, game and main practice fields require the most time and money to maintain. Maintenance frequency and material allocation can be reduced on low prior- ity fields and other areas. Part of this plan includes an annual budget. You may not be responsible for this, but it helps to have an under- standing of individual cost for various practices. What does it cost to fertilizing a field or core aerate the center of a football field? Knowing individual cost provides opportunities for donations when you consider outside relationships (discussed a little later). ConCentrate maintenanCe praCtiCes While a practice like mowing and fer- tility may occur over the entire field, overseeding and aeration can be applied to areas of greatest need. Applying seed between football hash marks only will reduce seed requirements by 66%. Only 22% of an entire college football field exists from the 20 to 20 yard line to 5 yards beyond the hash marks. For high school football fields, this area is 26% of the field. You can increase your spending power by almost four times when target- ing high traffic areas. Other high traffic areas include goal boxes on soccer fields and positional areas on baseball and softball outfields. Focusing on the areas of dire need will stretch limited dollars for the most good. Cultural praCtiCes There are cultural practices that are necessary and others that can be altered from a little to a lot. Mowing (time, fuel, and repairs) is a must and always part of 14 SportsTurf | April 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com Cultural praCtiCes & guidelines for low-budget athletiC fields ■ By Dr. BraD FresenBurg LeFt: seed and fertilizer on this compacted surface is a waste. Always provide good seed / soil con- tact when over-seeding by scratching up a seedbed or through core aeration. right: Maintenance should start earlier than this. Preventative maintenance is usually more economical than recovery main- tenance. Also consider concentrating your maintenance efforts to areas needing the most work. advertisements offer excellent monetary support as well as trade for maintenance resources like fertilizer, seed, etc. FiEld SciEncE