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/69161
F.O.Y. | Roger Dean Stadium ing, Florida State Class A-Advanced league, Gulf Coast rookie league, Town of Jupiter parks and recreation, and numerous amateur events throughout the year. ST:What do find most enjoyable? What task is your least favorite and why? Treadway:We enjoy hearing positive feed- back whether it be from the pros or amateur teams about their experience at our complex and on our fields. It makes all the hard work and long hours of our dedicated staff, led by assistants Matt Eggerman and Matt Dierdorff, and lead groundskeepers, Cory Wilder and Johnny Sim- mons, all worth it. I would say the least enjoyable part would be pulling tarp. With the unpredictable South Florida weather and a 170 professional game schedule, it makes for some grueling afternoons in the humidity and heat. ST: How did you get started in turf manage- ment? What was your first sports turf job? Treadway: My first turf job was at Chero- kee Valley Golf Club in Olive Branch, MS under superintendent Rob Roy. I was very fortunate to be given an opportunity and it helped me decide my future career path. My first sports turf jobs were while enrolled at Mississippi State Univer- sity in the turf program. I worked with Bart Prather on the athletic field crew for the Bull- dogs. I did my first internship here at Roger Dean Stadium, under then head groundskeeper Marshall Jennings. During the week, email is probably the best way to commu- nicate with everyone from my GM to the town of Jupiter's recreation department for schedules since we are all on the go most of the day. Our grounds and operations staff takes advan- tage of direct connect phones so we are always in touch no matter what part of the complex we are on. ST: specific job responsibilities? Treadway: My title is Director of Grounds and I am in charge of maintaining Roger Dean Stadium and the practice field complex as well as managing a crew of 20. We have 14 practice fields, a 7,000-seat stadium, and around 60 acres of landscape and common areas. We are home to Grapefruit League spring train- 40 SportsTurf | June 2012 ST: What changes if any are you considering or implementing for the winning field in 2012? Treadway:We are always trying to learn better and safer ways for all our athletes. We at- tend conferences and consult others in the in- dustry to hear about changes and improvements. We are always looking to produce a more consistent infield skin playing surface with more than 200+ events yearly. This season we are going to look into adding amendments. Time manage- ment is something we have to be very conscious of with our busy schedule. We are going to incorporate more vertical mowing this year during the season when we can to cut down on thatch and scalping on our Celebration bermuda. ST: How do you see the sports turf manager's job changing in the future? Treadway: I think continuing education and research are going to keep being a big part of our job. With more fields being built, more athletes, more games, means we should keep raising awareness to constructing and maintaining safe and playable fields for our athletes for years to come. ■ www.sportsturfonline.com