FIELD OF THE YEAR COLLEGE SOFTBALL
We have achieved a great deal of improvement over the last 12 months , in large part to changing the culture / expectations for our quality of maintenance at our softball facility / field . Since taking over responsibilities of all the athletic fields at the University of Illinois in 2021 , my focus has been on training staff , educating administration , prioritizing our needs , developing a basic agronomic program , establishing a budget and engraining the belief that we should “ expect ” to have a great field each year . We were fortunate to host the Big Ten Conference Tournament in May 2023 , in which we were able to showcase our improvements to the field from previous years . The field received great reviews over the course of the tournament — even after multiple games per day over the course of the five-day tournament . Establishing a basic agronomic program raised the quality of our outfield grass ; and , despite a full season of usage , the field was not showing much wear and tear at season ’ s end . I truly believe in the “ culture ” part of our program . You can throw as much money as you want at a problem , but without a set standard for how we treat our fields it would be a waste of resources . It takes belief from the coaching staff , administration and the team you surround yourself with to ultimately attain the end goal of a high-quality , safe playing field . It was never a smooth process ; sticking to the plan and never compromising the details has allowed us at the University of Illinois to be proud of Eichelberger Field . I ’ m excited for the future of Eichelberger Field , being able to provide our team with a field they can be proud of is worth all the hard work .
— Daniel Thomas , CSFM , superintendent of grounds sportsfieldmanagementonline . com June 2024 | SportsField Management
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