SOCCER
Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles
Leonard : There will be 49 base camps . There will be a record 48 teams playing in this World Cup , and there will be one referee base camp ( the referees will have their own practice facility ). On top of that , there will be 32 practice sites outside of the base camps . When a team comes to Philadelphia , there will be a couple fields here in the city . We will work with whoever manages those fields to make sure we have consistency . Easy to do in Qatar when you have eight stadiums in the same city versus 16 stadiums spread out throughout Mexico , the United States and Canada . You are hitting every different climate and a lot of different areas with regard to humidity , heat and altitude .
SFM : You briefly mentioned your partners . FMC Corp is serving as presenting sponsor and “ Official Turf Care Provider ” for the Premier League Summer Series at Lincoln Financial Field . What does that partnership mean for you and your crew ? Leonard : It ensures that we have some of the top people in that industry here in Philadelphia . They are literally a phone call away . We can work with them at our practice facility , and we were able to do some different trials with them . We have some unique situations here with the heat system and trying to grow grass in January , and they can help us with that .
Also , kudos to the Eagles organization . We couldn ’ t do any of this without support from the top , and that starts with Mr . Lurie . He always wanted a natural grass field coming from Veterans Stadium , and he gave us all the tools to work with : a SubAir system , underground heating , and being able to go from cool-season to warm-season grasses — and to trust us to do that . A lot of that has helped build a case for Philadelphia to get a World Cup — not only the commitment by the Eagles but the commitment by the city . I think that ’ s how we ended up where we are today . SFM
¹ The Premier League Summer Series also visited Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta , Georgia ; Exploria Stadium in Orlando , Florida ; Red Bull Arena in Harrison , New Jersey ; and FedEx Field in Landover , Maryland .
² Lincoln Financial Field be one of 16 stadiums across the United States , Canada and Mexico to serve as a FIFA World Cup 2026 host venue .
SFM : Is there anything you would like to add ? Leonard : We have a dedicated crew , and it takes a lot of time and attention — at a time when we ’ re shifting gears to get ready for Philadelphia Eagles training camp . I have to give a shout out to everyone on our grounds staff who makes all this happen .
Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles
20 SportsField Management | August 2023 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com