FIELD OF THE YEAR COLLEGE SOFTBALL
THE FIELD OF THE YEAR AWARD is due to the dedication and hard work at the Jack Turner Softball Stadium. I make sure to go outside of my comfort zone when it comes to gaining knowledge. I try to get several different opinions on how someone does a certain task or cultural practice because every field and each result will be different. I do not have a turfgrass degree or any schooling related to turfgrass. I have learned everything that I know by hands-on experience and being willing to ask questions. During my time at Georgia, I have been promoted twice due to my drive, growth in knowledge and dedication to my fields. Each day is a new challenge, and it pushes me to be better.
I have faced more challenges in the last 12 months than I have in the rest of my five years at Georgia. Two winters ago, we faced an issue with our irrigation well, which caused it to freeze and have us without water for three months. This past winter, our irrigation well went through a $ 50,000 reconstruction to improve it long term. By doing that, it caused us to be without water for two months. During that time period, we were in prime growing season for the ryegrass. We had to use a 500-gallon water trailer to water the infield skin and outfield to keep the rye growing strong.
Another issue that was faced during that time period was tarp burn. We had our tarp on the infield with edges folded back for about a week during winter vacation. We had heavy winds blow the tarp over onto the grass, which caused it to burn. We worked hard to get those areas to grow back without having to resod any of those areas during the season.
One of the bigger issues we faced during this last season was not having our typical sod farm that we have on standby. Due to construction going on for a new building for our softball team, we had to get rid of our sod farm. We had to make some decisions regarding height of cut to figure out what would get us through three tournaments of four games per day and keep us growing strong into conference play. The decision we made ended up benefiting us throughout the season and I believe we will stick with it again next season. With our field being more than 20 years old, we have to try various things to help keep the grass as healthy as possible for as long as possible through the daily wear and tear.
Practice schedules are an issue that all sports field managers face. Dealing with field usage and coaches isn’ t an easy task. Being able to perform routine cultural practices isn’ t always an option. There are times we have to get creative on how and when we can aerify, fertilize or seed due to the constant usage of a field.
— Brandi“ BJ” Thomas, grounds foreman sportsfieldmanagementonline. com April 2025 | SportsField Management
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