The SportsField Management Interview: Andy Gossel and Ty Gossel
Andy Gossel is director of field operations for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. His son Ty is manager of grounds at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Maryland. I recently visited with both to discuss their career journeys, the father-son dynamic, lessons learned, and Ty’s decision to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“I've taken the least traveled path to Triple-A baseball ever,” said Andy. “I was in education for 24 years. I started out teaching and ended up coaching, but I had some green industry background in in my past.”
Andy had worked for his father’s excavation business, and then for his older brother’s landscaping business.
“When I started coaching, the fields were awful; so I just tried to jump in and start making the fields better,” he said.
Andy taught and was boys athletic director at Arlington Baptist School in Baltimore for six years, then taught, coached and served as athletic director at Covenant Christian High School in Indianapolis for 18 years. While still teaching and coaching, he spent 12 years working as member of the game day grounds crew for the Indianapolis Indians, Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. That led to the opportunity with the IronPigs, and, in 2021, Andy decided to become a full-time professional sports field manager.
As director of field operations at Lehigh Valley, Andy and his full-time year-round assistant are in charge of the playing surface and seating hill, and recently added a full-time seasonal member to their team.
Andy served on the STMA Field of the Year Committee for several years, and also served on the STMA Board of Directors for two years. More recently, he has been involved with the Professional Baseball Sports Turf Managers Symposium.
“I’ve tried to help build a network across the minor leagues and get MLB on board to encourage attendance at SFMA Conference,” he said. “It’s important to use the symposium to continue to push for better compensation, networking, etc. I've spent a lot of time the last two years collecting data on salaries to improve where we are and keep quality groundskeepers in Minor League Baseball.”
While Ty was younger, Andy was doing sports field management work on the side, as well as coaching and working on the fields on which his sons played. Ty got to see firsthand the work his father performed.
Said Ty, “I sort of grew up working for dad, and hated every second of it. As a 13-year-old, being told to spend my afternoon working for free wasn’t my favorite thing in the world.”
So Ty initially went to college as an Exercise Science major, with the goal of being a strength and conditioning coach.
“The summer I started college was the summer my dad got the job in Lehigh Valley with the IronPigs,” said Ty. “So, near the end of my freshman year, he needed an intern, and I didn't have a summer job.”
Ty ended up loving the work and came back the following summer. At that point, Andy told Ty, “If you decide to pursue this, you need to go intern for somebody else in 2024. Get somebody else's name on your resume other than dad.”
So, after interning with the IronPigs in 2023, Ty transferred to Delaware Valley University to major in sports turf management.
“After junior year I interned with the Baltimore Ravens for the summer and fall, and I got to be there during football season,” said Ty. “I finished out school and that last summer I interned for the Philadelphia Phillies.”
Ty graduated from Delaware Valley in December of 2025 with a degree in sports turf management, and began working at the Maryland SoccerPlex in January of 2026.
According to Ty, when he was 13, he wasn’t that interested in sports field management, but by the time he was 18 or 19, he realized the value and importance of the work.
“He was definitely supportive of it,” Ty said of the conversations with his father about pursuing a career in this industry. “Having worked with him for a while, he knew that I was willing to spend the time that was necessary to be good at it. Minor League Baseball is a grind, so I knew that if I if I can get through that, I can get through pretty much anything.”
Ty also consulted with his then girlfriend — now wife — about the career change.
“I spoke with her about it, and made sure she was aware of the hours and the commitment that the job would be before I made a life decision like that,” he added.
Said Andy, “I knew he was getting to be good at it, doing the clay work and really taking an interest in it, asking a lot of really good questions. And that just continued to grow once he transferred.”
According to Ty, beyond the tasks related to the job, working with Andy showed him how hard his father works. Meanwhile, his internships with the Ravens and Phillies showed him the different approaches to the job and the attention to detail.
Ty added that he has received plenty of great advice from his father, but the biggest part was watching him in action.
“I loved being there at work with my dad,” said Ty. “But even before I worked with him, I saw how hard he worked to make it to our Little League games; and how much pride he took in being able to deliver as best as he possibly could — everything that was demanded of him, and even above and beyond. He put the same amount of energy and effort into a high school field, because he works at everything as hard as he can.”
Now, as manager of grounds at the Maryland SoccerPlex, Ty works for Larson Storer. They have two assistant managers and seven other employees managing 21 natural grass fields and three artificial turf fields.
“Eleven are bermuda, three are hybrid and the rest are Kentucky bluegrass,” said Ty. “So, between the number of fields and the different species of grasses we have, there is a lot of room to try a lot of different things and experiment with different ideas.”
Of Ty’s journey, Andy added, “He did his own work building his resume and interviewing well. I tried to stay out of that as much as I could; just give him advice and let him do his thing. He has plowed his own road, and I think he has done really well.”
According to Andy, his biggest piece of advice to Ty was to focus on his relationship with his wife and the work-life balance required.
“My wife and I have a wonderful marriage, and it's worked more or less by the grace of God and the patience of my wife,” said Andy. “But I encouraged him to find ways to prioritize his family while also still being able to do what he enjoys doing and pursue opportunities in the industry.”
Andy added that he is most proud of the fact that Ty asks a lot of good questions, wants to know why something worked or why it didn't, and why certain things are done rather than just doing them.
“Whether it's family related or industry related, asking questions has served him well,” said Andy. “He's somebody who takes that advice and really weighs it out. A lot of it is being able to ask questions and be a lifelong learner. He’s interested in bettering himself.”
According to Ty, the best part of the job is seeing a project come to fruition and achieving the desired quality throughout the season despite heavy traffic. His advice to other young people entering the sports field management profession is to be willing to listen, take advice and work as hard as you can.
“Make your mistakes quickly, and don't make the same mistake twice,” he added.
Of his own journey in the industry, Andy said the best part is not only seeing his son’s success, but seeing other interns and assistants go on to find their own success — whether they stay in the industry or not.
“I just try and help them learn and grow and maximize where they can be as they move forward in their career and in life,” he added.
Andy also enjoys that his son Jacob pursued a career as a sports information director with the goal of being an athletic director someday. Jacob is director of athletic communications and marketing at Cairn University.
“I have one son who followed me into sports turf and one who is following my former path of being an athletic director,” he said. “That makes me smile a little bit, and gives me that proud dad moment that they've seen the enjoyment and the pleasure I get from doing my job and the relationships that I've been able to build with former coaches, former athletes and on the grounds side of things. They are finding their own path, but are still staying connected to sports.”