PROFILE
— 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 Soccer- Plex, 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.” sportsfieldmanagementonline. com April 2026 | SportsField Management
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