FIELD OF THE YEAR SCHOOLS AND PARKS SOCCER
here . We do parking on game days for football and for graduation . We take care of all the field work and some of the exterior landscaping . We also go over to the school whenever we need to do maintenance over there . They have a pretty large grass practice field that fits about a football field and a half , as well as a smaller soccer practice field . We overseed there and I maintain those fields as needed . But we are usually out here at their sports complex , which is about 15 to 20 minutes from the school .
I do most of the field work myself , and Larry assists if I need help painting or with other tasks . But he handles a lot of the facilities and anything external , such as the surrounding grass areas . My main focus is the complex as a whole , but the majority of the time is spent taking care of the fields and making sure they ’ re ready for our student athletes .
Prince : I don ’ t think people realize all the work that you have to put into the submission . I knew going into the first one I submitted because we won one at Georgia Tech when I was there . So I knew the process and knew what information you had to have . And that information can ’ t necessarily come in September and October . You need to document everything with pictures throughout the year . Every year , about three weeks before it ’ s due , it ’ s crunch time around here . SFM
SFM : What originally attracted you to this job ? Prince : I got out of college sports turf because it was a lot of hours . I was getting married and we wanted to start a family . I knew the hours I was working wouldn ’ t allow me to have the time I would want with my wife and kids . We now have three kids that are all under three years old . Trying to find that balance between work life and home life was really important . Pace Academy has been great .
SFM : Can you share a bit of insight into the Field of the Year application process and anything other sports field managers should know ?
16 SportsField Management | December 2024 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com