PROFILE
Photo credit : Chris Gannon - ISU photographer
probably gets tired of us dragging prospective students or FFA students down there , but if we get one or two kids to show some interest , then it ’ s worth it .”
Thoms reiterated that online education is going to be a driver in years to come .
“ I ’ m a realist . Not everybody on the crew is going to attend the national annual conference ,” he said . “ So , providing resources that they can have at home is going to be useful . Continuing to push that and grow that content center is going to be a very big deal . We ’ re excited to have a format where you can get online and easily check that stuff out .”
With regard to labor challenges , industry pay scale and work-life balance , Thoms pointed out that pay scales have gone up in recent years , and there is hope that continues ; but work-life balance will always be a struggle since athletic events typically occur at night and on weekends .
“ I think better pay would help with some of the work-life balance , but more staff would help as well so that the head field manager could get a day off ,” he said . “ We ’ ve seen several universities adding full-time staff . Hopefully , that will continue to trickle down and we will see improved pay at those positions as well .”
According to Thoms , SFMA also needs to build partnerships with leagues and other organizations to improve the safety of athletic fields .
“ I want to see us , as an organization , reach out to a lot of the leagues to talk about how people need non-biased , science-based training ,” he said . “ That ’ s what we offer as an organization . I ’ d like to work with the leagues to make that important to them . There are a lot of fields out there that would benefit from individuals having some continuing education to help make their field safer . The leagues could help us move that needle a little bit by saying this
22 SportsField Management | February 2025 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com