FIELD OF THE YEAR COLLEGE SOCCER
OUR SOCCER FIELD IS 14 years old with only a sand cap over 20-foot center drain lines on 0.50 percent slope. Due to budget restrictions during the renovation, we had to use north Mississippi clay based 419 sod. As I tell my assistants, we may as well have laid a tarp under the sod. It took two years of solid and coring tines to make the field drain properly. This consistent management over the last 14 years has this field performing as one of the best draining fields on campus— if not the best. When Hurricane Francine came through— blessing us with upwards of 5 inches of rain— we were confident that if we had two to three hours of no rain prior to our match that night that the field would perform flawlessly. Just hours after the hurricane had passed, the field performed just as I expected, and Mississippi State was able to defeat Abilene Christian 5-0. In complete honesty, the field surprised me; after 16 years of experience in this industry, that’ s doing something.
Having to utilize student labor brings its own set of challenges. Balancing each student’ s time is very important to me; after all, they are here to get an education sportsfieldmanagementonline. com August 2025 | SportsField Management
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