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/60100
F.O.Y. |The Swamp eaten by the gators (I am the one in the water and they are scared!). They had their cell phones out taking pictures of the gators and texting it to friends. I eventually changed the intake valve which had totally collapsed due to the weeds around it. This happened two times in one month, at a cost of $640 each time, which led to me hiring a pond maintenance person who applies chemicals twice a month to keep the weeds down. We have Hunter sprinkler heads (I-35's) on all of our fields. I again noticed the fields turning brown in circular patterns and dis- covered that the heads were not rotating 360 degrees. I had to change out eight of the heads on the main part of the baseball field throughout the summer. I turned the old heads in to the vendor I to try and find a correspondence course in turf management. The University of Georgia offered a professional certificate in turf so I enrolled. I had to get the head of my guidance department, Pat Tolliver, to proctor the two exams required. It took me several months to get through the course, which was like an Advanced Placement Biology class. This gave me the book knowledge I needed and confidence to jump into an agrarian area that was somewhat overwhelming. I also had Dr. Bert McCarty, a turf pro- fessor at Clemson University, on speed dial, and he was a tremen- dous help. SportsTurf: What are your specific responsibilities for field maintenance, if any? What do find most enjoyable? What task is your least favorite and why? Behr: My responsibilities are to make the turf green by apply- ing the fertilizers and products that will accomplish the task. This includes analyzing soil samples with Bill Scribner who helps me balance the pH issues with the agronomic problems to select the proper fertilizers and nutrients that will build the strongest root- zone. My sports grounds manager, Adam Davis, is responsible for cutting, painting, striping, watering, and the skinned areas. Adam also is responsible for the PCI charting. I find the most joy in watching my field turn a luscious green and then how Adam can stripe the patterns into the field. The kids truly love to play on our fields too. My least favorite task, as well as Adam's, is bringing the field back from the dead each spring. We do not have the manpower to keep up with the field during softball's off season. Adam has to sod cut all the edges, hand dig and rake the crushed brick warning track where the grass has grown in, bring clay into the skinned area and edge all the lines. This process takes several weeks and we will bring Steve Weaver, grounds maintenance, Gage Holsey, Ivan Moreno, and Grant Opolus who are student volunteers, in to help with this mammoth project. SportsTurf: Did you have to get creative in finding the budget to implement the improvements that led to this award? Behr: I am given $35,000 to cover all 85 acres of school grounds. My district maintenance director, Rick Rogers, will help me in purchasing sand and renting equipment to topdress, aerate, and verticut. My principal, Karen Radcliffe, will help me with funding from her general account if I need assistance. My Superin- tendent, Joe Pye, has been great in allowing me to purchase the right equipment to manage the fields. I bring in Alan Wilson, a CSFM, to do heavy topdressing, verticut, and sweep the fields twice a year. bought them from and was given new heads. Hunter sent a repre- sentative from California to investigate the problem and deter- mined that he heads were faulty. SportsTurf: How did you educate yourself about improving and maintaining your fields? Behr: When I was named the Athletic Director I went online 40 SportsTurf | April 2012 SportsTurf: What changes, if any, are you considering or im- plementing for the winning field in 2012? Behr: We built a crushed brick warning track and moved 17 sprinkler heads last year. This year we have relocated the quick con- nect coupling from behind the pitcher's mound to the warning track. The sheer amount of work that we must do at the beginning of the season is equivalent to rebuilding a softball field each year. We are currently having issues with our irrigation water that is high in sodium. Amending the soil and keeping my grass alive is my biggest concern for this year. ■ www.sportsturfonline.com