FIELD OF THE YEAR COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY BASEBALL
worked with the baseball staff in these instances, and they were absolutely fantastic working with us to achieve our goals. It was all about teamwork from top to bottom.
SFM: Can you share a little about your overall management approach to the winning field and what you feel have been the most important aspects to getting this field to an awardwinning level? Billingsley: Our overall approach was to sit down, write a year-long maintenance plan that included any possible scenario we could think might happen. We write down the fertility plan, maintenance / cultural practices, when we think we would have the best opportunity to get it done, how long recovery might take, etc. The end goal was always to provide the absolute best product we could. The most important aspect to me is that you have to believe in what you are doing; trust yourself, trust your plan, trust your team, and go with it. Take the unforeseen circumstances as they come, don’ t sweat the things out of your control, and just do the absolute best of your ability to make it happen. Everything after that will work itself out.
SFM: Please tell us about your crew, and anything else you would like us to know about your organization and the fields / facilities that you manage? Billingsley: I spent the majority of my time at the baseball facility because it was a very demanding position that required a lot of attention. I had two day-shift students to help prepare during the mornings and afternoons and another assistant would come and help as much as he could during the fall and summer. During the spring season, I had a handful of game day student workers, as well as an assistant who would help manage those student workers, maintenance practices, game flow, and tarp pulls. During fall, when football
14 SportsField Management | April 2026 sportsfieldmanagementonline. com