John Mascaro's Photo Quiz Answers from page 17
These marks on this soccer field are obviously tire tracks, but how they got there is the real story. In this part of the world, soccer is a national sport. In early November, this soccer complex had a freezing rain followed by several inches of snow. The field club was faced with a situation where a game had to be played on this stadium field within the next couple days and the snow had to be removed. The Sports Turf manager advised the club against clearing the snow; it was not until after they saw the dam- age that they truly understood why! Since the turf had received ice first, the snow removal began with shovels and the pieces came out like blocks if lifted carefully as not to damage the grass. These blocks were then loaded onto a trailer pulled by a small tractor and removed from the field at the only access gate causing the tire damage seen in the photo. Once the Sports Turf Manager saw that the tires were started to damage the grass, this operation was stopped immediately. Since the air temperatures were now above freezing, it was decided to use the rounded edges of an upside down springbok rake to aerate and break up the snow, allowing the sun and air to melt on its own. It worked perfectly and the since the damage was caught early, it was minimal. Photo submitted by Phil Sharples, owner of Technical Turf Consulting Ltd and contracted as Stadium & Surfaces Director at Gabala Field Club located in Qabala, Azerbaijan and now at Galatasaray FC in Turkey.
If you would like to submit a photograph for John Mascaro's Photo Quiz please send it to John Mas- caro, 1471 Capital Circle NW, Ste # 13, Tallahassee, FL 32303 call (850) 580-4026 or email to john@turf- tec.com. If your photograph is selected, you will re- ceive full credit. All photos submitted will become property of SportsTurf magazine and the Sports Turf Managers Association.
www.stma.org
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