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/533607
www.stma.org July 2015 | SportsTurf 45 ALL AGRONOMY IS LOCAL; CHAPTERS FILL MANY NEEDS STMA IN ACTION For more on the latest news, please visit www.sportsturfonline.com and www.stma.org. News from the Sports Turf Managers Association V alue may be the one word that everyone can agree on to describe why sports field managers join their local STMA chapter. Yet, value means different things to different people; it may all come down to having your individual needs met. Those needs certainly vary. CONNECTIONS Local chapters provide local connections with whom you can solve problems and discuss issues. For Nick Caggiano with the New England STMA, "Being a member of your local STMA chapter provides to you a tremendous network of local Sports Turf Managers." He views them as a valuable resource pool to help solve a variety of issues. "Chapter members are just a phone call or text away and are always willing to provide assistance, whether the problems are agronomic, regulatory, or business management," says Caggiano. Ron Hostick, CSFM, found his chapter, the SoCal STMA, to be a great organization for making important connections, and especially helpful in career advancement. "I can say right now, SoCal STMA provided me great contacts both with fellow turf managers and our amazing group of vendor/supporters; it is through the combination of shared experiences from both groups I have received opportunities to improve my career prospects and the skills required to perform my job with an heightened level of expertise," says Hostick. EDUCATION Just as all agronomy is local, so is agronomic education. "We do our best to tailor our chapter's education programs to address regional and timely issues that are affecting our members," says TJ Brewer, CSFM, Iowa STMA. As geography and weather issues are all regional, our chapter uses field days for hands-on educa- tion, and our newsletter, Sideline Report, to address those issues that our members are dealing with." RESOURCES Commercial members make up a very important segment of the STMA chapter network. According to Jody Gill, CSFM, Blue Valley School District, the ability to access local companies and local dis- tributors of national companies that are in his chapter helps him save time and make more effective purchases. "Being able to meet with our local distributors, see new products and technology and how they actually work on our fields is important to our opera- tions," says Gill. "We consider our chapter's commercial members to be significant partners with us, helping to strengthen our chapter and helping sports field managers to be successful." PHILANTHROPY Chapters are known for giving back to their communities. A perfect example is the MO-KAN chapter. They took on a task of renovating a grassy area into an athletic complex that now hosts