SportsField Management April 2023 | Page 12

FIELD OF THE YEAR SCHOOLS AND PARKS FOOTBALL
This field should be considered a winner because of how much work it took to get this field to the point it is today . In 2021 , the football team practiced late into the fall and the bermudagrass really paid the price . While the ryegrass held up well into the spring soccer season and we thought 2022 would yield a great surface , we instead were met with a great surprise . When we sprayed out the rye in early June , it revealed that we had a winterkill of nearly 30 percent of the bermudagrass on the playing surface . The athletic director of the school even asked if the field would be ready for play in the fall for football . We told him yes , and I got my head down and went to work . Many hours of hard , dedicated labor were put into this field . Not just to win an award , but just to get it to the point where it would be safe for play . Where the field started and where it is today is a night-and-day difference . I can ’ t thank my boss , Brian Hinkley , and my coworkers enough for the help and encouragement to produce what I believe to be a rather exceptional playing surface this season . I feel like I put my heart and soul into this field this year to make it the best it can be . – Zachary Horsley , Sports turf tech III sportsfieldmanagementonline . com April 2023 | SportsField Management
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