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/726375
www.stma.org October 2016 | SportsTurf 43 FIELD OF THE YEAR FIELD OF THE YEAR FIELD OF THE YEAR Category of Submission: College Soccer Sports Turf Manager: Jesse Pritchard, CSFM Degree: Bachelor's of Science in Horticulture with an emphasis in Turfgrass Management Experience: I graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2001. There I worked for both the Intramural and Athletic department fi eld crews. I accepted a job with Sports Turf Management out of Atlanta, GA in February 2002. There I was responsible for maintaining 4,000,000 square feet of contracted fi eld maintenance. I accepted the head Sports Turf Manager position with the University of Virginia in July 2005. I have been serving in that role for the last 10 years trying to improve our athletic fi elds every day. Full-time Assistant Sports Turf Manager: Phil Bathalon Original construction: 1992 Rootzone: 100% sand Turfgrass variety: Patriot bermudagrass Overseed: Overseeded with Field General Blend perennial ryegrass, 'Karma', 'Express ll' and 'Fiesta 4' in late September. To seed we broom dragged, mowed and blew the fi eld followed by seeding @10lbs/1000. We then broom dragged the seed to create the best seed to soil contact possible. Drainage: Originally the fi eld was built with a MOTZ PAT system with vacuums. Over time the drain lines fi lled with sand and the drainage slowed dramatically. In 2006 4-inch double wall NDS drainpipe was installed on 15-foot centers running the length of the fi eld. These pipes empty into a 6-inch mainline on both ends of the fi eld. The Field of the Year Awards program is made possible by the support of sponsors Barenbrug USA, Carolina Green Corp., Ewing, Hunter Industries, and World Class Athletic Services. to overcome in successful fi eld maintenance. Finding open windows, based on events, can be frustrating when there is little time for maintenance. Overseeding in the fall is critical for late season coverage and contributes to our spring season green up. Having a busy fall calendar of events, we were only able to provide compaction relief by solid tining one time (compare this to the spring season which we solid tined twice and core aerifi ed twice). Weather played a large part in the beginning of lacrosse season. During our opening game Feb 14, we had a snowstorm and had to blow the lines throughout the game in order to fi nish. We then received consecutive 8" snows that necessitated postponing two lacrosse games. After the lacrosse season we executed an aggressive maintenance strategy focusing on the goalmouths, goalie creases and team areas by laying 6,829 square feet of sod. To