Officers

President : Sun Roesslein , CSFM

President Elect : Adam Thoms , Ph . D .

Secretary-Treasurer : Alpha Jones , CSFM

Vice President Commercial : Erin Boyd Wilder

Directors

Academic : Chase Straw , Ph . D .

At-Large ( elected ): Kyle Patterson

At-Large ( appointed ): Lee Van Meeteren

Commercial : Warren Gorrowitz

Higher Education : Casey Carrick , CSFM

Parks and Recreation : Zack Holm , CSFM

Professional Facilities : Dan Farnes

Schools K-12 : Jeremy Driscoll , CSFM

SFMA OFFICE P . O . Box 1673 Lawrence , KS 66044 Phone : 800-323-3875 Email : SFMAInfo @ SportsFieldManagement . org www . sportsfieldmanagement . org

SFMA EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Chair : Brad Thedens , CSFM Board Liaison : Chase Straw , Ph . D . Members : Matthew Arms , CSFM ; Philip Braselton ; TJ Brewer , CSFM ; Joe Churchill ; Forrest Jammer ; John Kmitta ; and David Schwandt .

March is here , and with it comes a lot of excitement . Soon the stands will begin to fill with families and fans , our stadium lights will be on every night , and the smell of concession stand popcorn will become a constant .

2024 feels like it ’ s time to really start moving forward . The committees are set , and there is a lot of work to do in order to continue moving the needle forward for your association . The road map is in place in the form of our strategic plan . The three big goals are broken down into smaller goals , and , with the investments made this past year in the association ’ s infrastructure , we are poised to make big strides .

As we make those big strides , I ’ m reminded of something a woman named Mary Lou Bohn said when asked about the key to her success as a leader . She started out with her company as an assistant and worked her way up through various roles in all departments . Now she is the president of the golf ball division of Titleist . She was asked how she leads through challenges . Her reply was that it boils down to trying to do the right thing , in the right way with the long view in mind .

I think we all do that every day when managing our sports fields . But her putting it in words in a successful business setting made the parallel obvious — that sports field managers are setting themselves up for success every day .

There isn ’ t some secret , complicated formula for success . That really stuck with me , and it ’ s playing on repeat in my head .

I am a bit of a sucker for a good motivational quote , and I have a ton of screenshots on my phone . Leadership was certainly a theme in 2023 . One of my favorites is , “ When you were made a leader , you weren ’ t given a crown , you were given the responsibility to bring out the best in others .” — Jack Welch .

Every one of you in this association is a leader , whether you have been a member for decades or this is your first year . You don ’ t need a specific title to be an inspiration — especially not when you ’ re doing the right things , in the right way , with the long view in mind .

In all honesty , this was the gist of my address at the annual meeting in Daytona Beach . My hope is that this reaches those who were not able to join us . I believe it ’ s worth repeating that doing the right thing , in the right way , with the long view in mind is a big key to success that will be front and center as we move through 2024 . Have a great spring ! SFM

Sun Roesslein , CSFM

Sun Roesslein , CSFM SFMA President Sun . Roesslein @ jeffco . k12 . co . us sportsfieldmanagementonline . com March 2024 | SportsField Management

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