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
FROM THE SIDELINES W hen I called Ben Polimer, recipient of this year's STMA President's Award for Leadership, in mid-February the big news was that he wasn't pushing snow at that moment. The sports turf manager at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts, Polimer spent most of his time during 2015's first 6 weeks dealing with the prodigious amounts of snow that blanketed most of New England. But on this sunny Wednesday he reported it hadn't snowed for 2 whole days. "We've been putting the snow in our quad and the pile now is about 150 feet long, 30 feet high and 50 feet deep," he said. "Everyone in the Boston area is running out of places to put it." The President's Award for Leadership is bestowed by the outgoing STMA president to members who have made a significant contribution to the Association. David Pinsonneault, CSFM, CPRP, chose fellow New Englander Polimer, whose contribu- tions are on-going; as a member of STMA's new, high-profile Natural Grass Task Force, he was preparing for a conference call that week. "When Dave asked me to be on this task force I told him I was just a lowly turf manager, not worthy of being selected alongside a 'who's who' list that includes Dr. Mike Goatley, Mike Tarantino, Jerad Minnick, Melanie Stanton, Patrick Maguire and others, but he said the Board needed everyone," Polimer said. Polimer has served on several STMA committees, including Scholarship, Awards, and Chapter Relations, and he's currently the secretary for the large New England STMA chapter. I asked him how STMA has helped his career: "Starting in 2005 I began to attend conferences locally and nationally, and the camaraderie and networking were fantastic. You can call anyone in the associa- tion with a question. It has helped me so much in my role as sports turf manager; I am looked upon here at the Academy as a professional because of my involvement with STMA's committees, conferences, and now, this award," he said. "Another benefit has been attending the Chapter Officers Training (COTS) sessions at the national conference for the past 5-6 years. It's great meeting different officers from around the country and finding out what they do and how things work for their chapters," he said. "Two good examples are help in hiring our executive secretary and planning our events. Bouncing ideas off one another, it's just a very collaborative effort. It helps me be a better officer and is a big ben- efit to our chapter. "Chapters need involvement to be success- ful. I hear at COTS that some chapters are stale, with not a lot of new people joining and being active," he said. "Chapters need help being run. Yes, it can be time-consuming but I have found it to be very rewarding." Polimer said he was truly shocked when Pinsonneault called his name in Denver. "I had no idea. I was humbled. When you look at the list of previous winners, I'm just not in the same class," he said. "Dave is such a huge asset to the national and our regional associa- tion; it was fantastic." ■ ST Eric Schroder Editorial Director eschroder@specialtyim.com 717-805-4197 6 SportsTurf | April 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com EPG Media & Specialty Information 3300 Fernbrook Lane N, Suite 200, Plymouth, MN 55447 The Official Publication Of The Sports Turf Managers Association President: Allen Johnson, CSFM Immediate Past President: David Pinsonneault, CSFM, CPRP President-Elect: Jeff Salmond, CSFM Secretary/Treasurer: Timothy Van Loo, CSFM Vice-President Commercial: James Graff Professional Facilities: Dan Bergstrom Academic: Jeffrey Fowler Higher Education: Matt Anderson Parks & Recreation: Sarah Martin, CSFM K-12: Bobby Behr, CSFM Commercial: Doug Schattinger Elected-at-Large: Jimmy Simpson, CSFM Elected-at-Large: David Anderson Chief Executive Officer: Kim Heck STMA OFFICE 805 New Hampshire Suite E Lawrence, KS 66044 Phone: 800-323-3875 Fax: 800-366-0391 Email: STMAinfo@STMA.org www.STMA.org EdITORIAL Group publisher: David Voll Editorial director: Eric Schroder Technical Editor: Dr. James Brosnan Art director: Brian Snook Production Manager: Karen Kalinyak Stma Editorial Communications Committee Chairman: Brad Jakubowski; Tyler Clay; Jim Cornelius, CSFM; Mark Frever, CSFM; Jamie Mehringer; Scott Stevens; and Brad Park SportsTurf (ISSN 1061-687X) (USPS 000-292) (Reg. 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