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/543149
F or proof of soccer's continued growth in the US, sport aficionados need to look no further than the success of Major League Soccer's bright new expansion team, the Orlando City Soccer Club. The club is playing their inaugural year home games in the famed Citrus Bowl while a massive new stadium is completed in downtown Orlando. The team and its lion-crested purple imagery, led by international superstar Kaká, has quickly become the hottest ticket in Central Florida. The team has already set US soccer attendance records, with more than 60,000 fans attending the first home match against fellow expansion team New York City FC. The game was televised in more than 100 countries. The team cur- rently ranks #2 in MLS attendance. Team President Phil Rawlins founded the team in 2010 in Austin, TX, where the fledgling team won a championship in the United Soccer League. A few years later, Rawlins partnered with Brazilian business- man Flavio Augusto da Silva, joined MLS and moved the team to Orlando. When the team arrived in Orlando, Sports Turf Managers Association member Matt Bruderek was working as a grounds crew assistant at the University of Central Florida, maintaining fields for the school's baseball, football and soccer teams. "When I first saw the job opening at Or- lando City, I was reluctant to apply because I didn't even think they would consider me," said Bruderek. But the young field manager got the nod and quickly found himself in Orlando, starting a turfgrass program from scratch. "When I started in July 2014, we had no equipment, facilities or fields," recalls Bru- derek. "It was perfect actually because I was able to sit down and plan everything that I wanted to do before practices and games started." By August, the team secured two prac- tice fields and a building in just outside of Orlando in Seminole County. Bruderek's immediate responsibility was tending to the slate of events the facility had already scheduled. "As I continued to plan for Orlando City during the fall, we had recreation league games out here, the Canadian men's national team, and 2 days after Christmas we hosted a 3-day soccer tour- nament that had 15 games on each field. After that, we had just 1 month until Or- lando City's first practice. During that first fall, I wasn't able to do much but spray weeds, overseed and use a recycle dresser machine, which pulled up the sand to topdress the surface." Bruderek used just 200 lbs. per acre with the ryegrass, half of what a field manager would normally use. "At the time, the Bermuda was just not healthy enough to put a thick layer of rye- grass on top of it," said Bruderek. "It was a good decision because the Bermuda is pop- ping now and growing like crazy. The coach- es want the grass as low as possible, so I've been nudging it down, little by little. I want to get it to ½ inch, but I'm not rushing it." "When the team arrived for their first practice in January of this year, it was awe- some," said Bruderek. "From the very be- ginning, they were supportive of me and noticed even the small improvements that had started to take shape in the grass. If I ask them to stay off a certain part of the field, they comply with no issues. They have a complete understanding of what we're trying to do out here, which is incred- ibly helpful." Bruderek also got to know the team bet- ter, including its most well-known player. "I had heard a lot about Kaká and what a great player he is. Even at 33 years of age, he is still the most skilled player on the field at any given time," said Bruderek. "But he is also an incredibly down-to-earth guy who will go out of his way for his fans. His fans will show up here at the practice facility and he always finds time to sign autographs and talk to them. He's a big reason that this team took off so fast in such a short period of time." Bruderek uses a small fleet of Jacobsen equipment to maintain his practice fields. "Just getting good quality equipment out here made all the difference," said Bru- derek. "I absolutely love the quality-of-cut I get from the LF550 large-area reel mower. What I love even more is how easy it is to change the height-of-cut, which I can eas- ily do in less than 10 minutes without a lift. That's so critical when it's just me out here." TOOLS & EQUIPMENT FROM THE GROUND UP: MLS Groundskeeper starts from scratch in Orlando Editor's note: This article was supplied by Jacobsen 40 SportsTurf | August 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com Matt Bruderek, head groundskeeper, Orlando City Soccer Club.