Officers

President : Sun Roesslein , CSFM

President Elect : Adam Thoms , Ph . D .

Secretary-Treasurer : Alpha Jones , CSFM

Vice President Commercial : Erin Boyd Wilder

Directors

Academic : Chase Straw , Ph . D .

At-Large ( elected ): Kyle Patterson

At-Large ( appointed ): Lee Van Meeteren

Commercial : Warren Gorrowitz

Higher Education : Casey Carrick , CSFM

Parks and Recreation : Zack Holm , CSFM

Professional Facilities : Dan Farnes

Schools K-12 : Jeremy Driscoll , CSFM

SFMA OFFICE P . O . Box 1673 Lawrence , KS 66044 Phone : 800-323-3875 Email : SFMAInfo @ SportsFieldManagement . org www . sportsfieldmanagement . org

SFMA EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Chair : Brad Thedens , CSFM Vice Chair : TJ Brewer , CSFM Board Liaison : Chase Straw , Ph . D . Members : Matthew Arms , CSFM ; Joe Churchill ; Cliff Driver , CSFM ; Kate Garassino ; Rebecca Knapp , CSFM ; and Tony Koski .

Hello SFMA !

It ’ s been a while . I hope your summer has been fantastic ! At the # BestOffice , we ’ ve been busy with summer projects and everything that comes with . We did a small area re-sod after a heavy lacrosse season in the spring , and fraze mowing went really well . Then we ’ ve had a different project get delayed for months , lateral lines got trenched through on a Friday afternoon , and let ’ s not even mention the heat ! You know , the stuff that we all deal with regularly .

Even with our usual struggles , this summer has been a great one . SFMA has a bright future , with exciting things coming to support you .

First , the curriculum that has been packaged and promoted through our partnership with iCEV is already a hit . The official release date is August 1 , but our Education Manager , Jennifer McLendon , recently attended the Agriculture Teachers of Texas conference for a soft rollout , and the response was extremely positive . That is a great sign for attracting young people to our profession .

The online learning platform is also getting very positive feedback , and has been utilized for our inaugural mentorship program . Eventually , the entire institute will be migrated over to the Canvas platform . This will be a great resource for growth in your own career , as well as staff training . It will encompass turfgrass management skills , as well as leadership and professional development .

On a personal note , I had the opportunity to volunteer at the U . S . Men ’ s Open at Pinehurst earlier this summer along with several other SFMA members . We had an incredible time sharing insight with our golf course management colleagues . I love how many questions they have about sports field management — the FIFA World Cup is a very popular topic . Next up : Little League Softball World Series , where we get to showcase our profession and skills to a worldwide audience .

As you know by now , SFMA is in a transition period as we search for our next leader . Our headquarters staff — Leah Craig , Madison Davis , Nora Dunnaway , Jennifer McLendon and Whitney Webber — are imperative in keeping the business running , planning

for the Palm Springs conference , and migrating information to a new membership management system . Rock stars !

Keep on rockin ’ and have a great start to the school year ! SFM

Sun Roesslein , CSFM

Sun Roesslein , CSFM SFMA President Sun . Roesslein @ jeffco . k12 . co . us sportsfieldmanagementonline . com August 2024 | SportsField Management

7