FIELD OF THE YEAR SCHOOLS AND PARKS SOCCER
Prince : Probably just the amount of maintenance that was done . We typically are able to do more now that I ’ m here . If we get a break in the game schedule , I can go ahead and aerify the field or roll it if it needs to be rolled . I probably put out more fertilizer than they did . They did a lot of granulars because they had a lot of fields to take care of in different complexes ; we do a lot more foliars . During game weeks , when weather and schedules allow , we typically try to spray once or twice before each home football game . I probably put out more rye than they did . We overseed , and we play most of our games on ryegrass . The first couple of games of the football season are played on bermudagrass . Then , from fall to beginning of summer , it ’ s all ryegrass .
SportsField Management ( SFM ): You have been at Pace Academy for a little more than five years , and this is your fifth Field of the Year win ( four for Walsh Field and one for your auxiliary / lacrosse field ). When you first arrived at Pace Academy , what was the state of the fields and what did you do differently to get your fields to this level of performance and quality ? Daniel Prince : When I started here , a company called Precision Turf , which built the fields in 2014 , took care of all the big maintenance tasks , such as aerification , topdressing and fertilization — everything but mow the fields . Pace ultimately wanted somebody in-house to do the work whenever needed and not be on a company ’ s schedule . But the fields were in good shape when I got here . Precision did a great job , and I just tried to build on what they had going and put my own little spin on it .
SFM : Did you change or implement anything with regard to maintenance practices ?
SFM : From the time that you won your first Field of the Year Award at Pace Academy in 2019 until now , has there been much that you ’ ve changed in terms of your approach ? Prince : We try to stay consistent . Since that first win , we ’ ve added more events and sports . We added flag football a couple years ago . We started doing graduations out here , which they had not done previously . We have hosted Premier League soccer teams the last two years , and that is something they want to keep going . During COVID we had professional athletes out here when their facilities were closed . With additional events and more use there are changes to scheduling around those events — pushing our maintenance back or a little bit earlier depending on when they ’ re here . But , overall , we try to keep it consistent .
SFM : With the change in event load , how much input do you get in terms of in terms of the events that are added to your schedule ?
14 SportsField Management | December 2024 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com