PROFILE
McKenna . “ So I spent the next twoand-a-half years just working for the athletic department as a general groundskeeper . I worked anything and everything I could , because a ) I needed the money , and b ) I needed the experience . So , I was just trying to soak it all in like a sponge .”
According to McKenna , the dynamic between Goertz and Potts was great . “ Leo always joked that he was the hand shaker and back slapper , and Craig was the nuts-and-bolts guy . I consider myself somewhere between the two . I related well with Leo on the general management side and the people management , and Craig and I made a strong connection with the agronomics and the science behind everything .”
McKenna said that some of his favorite times with Goertz and Potts didn ’ t even revolve around work .
“ Leo and I would sit around for an extra hour or hour and a half at the end of the day and just talk ,” said McKenna . “ The things I learned from him beyond growing grass were the things that really stuck with me .”
From there , McKenna headed to Virginia Tech for a graduate assistantship position funded by the Virginia Tech athletic department . It allowed McKenna to work for the athletic department when he wasn ’ t busy with his graduate school obligations .
McKenna was familiar with Michael Goatley , Ph . D ., at Virginia Tech , and felt that Virginia Tech presented him with a unique opportunity to work with new people in a new environment . Having already grown grass in both cool-season and warm-season climates , McKenna felt that working in the transition zone would allow him to confidently go anywhere in the country and take on any challenges .
“ So we made the decision to go to Virginia Tech , and it was a blind leap ,” said McKenna . “ I had never been to Blacksburg , I hadn ’ t gotten the chance to visit . I had just had a couple phone calls with Dr . Goatley and with Jason Bowers [ CSFM ], who was the sports field manager for Virginia Tech athletics at that time . We found an apartment online – didn ’ t see it until the day we moved in .
“ Everything I needed to know about Dr . Goatley I knew the day we moved in ,” McKenna added . “ He showed up with Dr . Askew and two of their graduate students on a 110-degree day , and helped me unload our truck and trailer and helped us get moved in .”
NEW CHAPTERS IN LIFE
After two and a half years at Texas A & M , McKenna ’ s wife got a teaching job back in Iowa , and McKenna ended up taking a job in Iowa with a nursery landscape company for a year . He then moved on to a job selling commercial groundskeeping equipment for a local Toro distributor . “ I quickly figured out that I wasn ’ t ready for sales yet ,” said McKenna . “ I missed being on the fields too much . I started to explore how to get back into the sports field management industry .”
sportsfieldmanagementonline . com February 2021 | SportsField Management
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