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
From the Sidelines Eric Schroder Editor eschroder@m2media360.com 717-805-4197 Growing field use demands turf knowledge S PORTS TURF AND RELATED VENUES continue to be in demand because more kids than ever are playing sports and field sports are particularly strong. Participation in high school sports increased for the 22nd consecutive school year in 2010-11, ac- cording to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). NFHS members reported for the 2010-11 school year broke the record with 7,667,955 participants. The number of field sports is holding strong compared to the number of indoor sports or those using other facilities. The top 10 sports for boys, in terms of numbers of students partici- pating, were (from 1-10 in ranking): 11-player football, outdoor track and field, basketball, base- ball, soccer, wrestling, cross country, tennis, golf and swimming/diving. Among girls, the top 10 were outdoor track and field, basketball, volleyball, fast-pitch softball, soccer, cross country, ten- nis, swimming/diving, competitive spirit squads and lacrosse. Among girls' sports, the emerging sport of lacrosse led the way with an increase of 9% from the previous year. With 74,927 participants nationwide, lacrosse cracked the girls Top 10 listing for the first time as it moved past golf. Outdoor track and field was close behind lacrosse, fol- lowed by soccer, volleyball and cross country. All this activity demands turf management and that's where you come in. With safety and playability foremost in mind, many turf professionals already take advantage of available re- sources to enhance their skills. But those of you who may be reluctant for any reason, I urge you to reconsider. Last winter I attended the annual conference put on by the Keystone Athletic Field Managers Organization (KAFMO), one of the oldest conferences of its kind in the nation, here in Pennsylvania. More than 300 turf guys and gals attended the 16th version of this event, which raises money for chapter activities including scholarships and university turf research grants. Educational ses- sions included a panel discussion on how to handle fields that have been flooded. [Tim Foreman of the Harrisburg (AA) Senators got a laugh from the crowd when he said he's seen three separate "100-year floods" in his 19 years with the team!] For not the first time, KAFMO's program included the current national STMA president, which this year is Dr. Mike Goatley of Virginia Tech (see page 7). Dr. Goatley spoke on strategies for spring recovery, including making points regarding use of rollers (it's wrong to say "never use rollers" per compaction issues; see Dave Minner's "Q&A" on rolling page 46); off-season lip maintenance; use of turf covers to "accelerate and manipulate" turfgrass; and being smart with your spring fertilization timing to both save money and protect the environment. Dr. Goatley advised, "Don't sacrifice your fields' safety no matter what; a safe field is not necessarily a good- looking field." Other sessions included Dr. Peter Landschoot of Penn State's update on the progress of fertil- izer regulation in the state; Mike Shelley, a graduate student at Penn State, shared his findings from research on establishing fields with tall fescue in the summer; and Tom Serensits, manager of PSU's Center for Sports Surface Research, shared the latest information on what herbicides to use in specific situations and time frames. All STMA Chapters have educational sessions and conferences, field days, test drives, etc., events where you can learn how to be better and work smarter. If you're not taking advantage of those that you can, you may be selling your fields, and yourself, short. SportsTurfTu 1030 W. Higgins Road Suite 230 Park Ridge, IL 60068 Phone 847-720-5600 Fax 847-720-5601 The Official Publication Of The Sports Turf Managers Association President: James Michael Goatley, Jr., Ph.D. Immediate Past President: Troy Smith, CSFM President-Elect: Martin K. Kaufman, CSFM Secretary/Treasurer: David Pinsonneault, CSFM, CPRP Vice-President Commercial: Rene Asprion Professional Facilities: Allen Johnson, CSFM Academic: Jeffrey Fowler Parks & Recreation: Debra Kneeshaw Higher Education: Jeffrey Salmond, CSFM K-12: Michael Tarantino, CSFM Commercial: James Graff At Large: Jay Warnick, CSFM At Large: Ron Hostick, CSFM 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 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Charles Forman EDITOR Eric Schroder TECHNICAL EDITOR Dr. James Brosnan ART DIRECTOR Brian Snook PRODUCTION MANAGER Karen Kalinyak EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Richard Brandes STMA Editorial Communications Committee Jim Cornelius, CSFM, Jason Henderson, PhD, Paul Hollis, Clayton Hubbs, Joshua McPherson, CSFM, Brad Park, David Schlotthauer, & Grant Spear SportsTurf (ISSN 1061-687X) (USPS 000-292) (Reg. U.S. Pat. & T.M. Off.) is published monthly by m2media360, a Bev-Al Communications company at 1030 W. Higgins Road, Suite 230, Park Ridge, IL 60068. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Sportsturf, PO Box 4290, Port Jervis, NY 12771. For subscription information and re- quests, call Subscription Services at (845) 856-2229. Sub- scription rates: 1 year, $40 US & Poss.; 2 years, $65 US & Poss.; 1 year, $65 Canada/Foreign Surface, 1 year, $130 Air- mail. All subscriptions are payable in advance in US funds. Send payments to Sportsturf, PO Box 4290, Port Jervis, NY 12771. Phone: (845) 856-2229. Fax: (845) 856-5822. Single copies or back issues, $8 each US/Canada; $12 For- eign. Periodicals postage paid at Park Ridge, IL and addi- tional mailing offices. COPYRIGHT 2012, SportsTurf. Material may not be reproduced or photocopied in any form without the written permission of the publisher. 6 SportsTurf | April 2012 www.sportsturfonline.com