President : Nick McKenna , CSFM

Immediate Past President : Jimmy Simpson , CSFM

President-Elect : James Bergdoll , CSFM

Secretary-Treasurer : Sun Roesslein , CSFM

Vice-President Commercial : Jeremy Bohonko

Professional Facilities : Nicole Sherry

Academic : Adam Thoms , Ph . D .

Higher Education : Clark Cox , CSFM

Parks & Recreation : Brad Thedens , CSFM

Schools K-12 : Jeremy Driscoll Commercial : Paula Sliefert

At-Large Elected : Scott Thompson , CSFM

At-Large Appointed : Alpha Jones , CSFM

STMA OFFICE P . O . Box 1673 Lawrence , KS 66044 Phone : 800-323-3875 Email : STMAinfo @ STMA . org www . STMA . org

STMA EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Chair : Brad Thedens , CSFM Technical Editor : Adam Thoms , Ph . D .

Rebecca Auchter , CSFM ; TJ Brewer , CSFM ; Joe Churchill ; Arthur Eddy ; Charles Goode ; Eric Harshman ; John Kmitta ; Cody McKee ; Kelly Rensel , CSFM ; Eric Roberts , CSFM ; David Schwandt ; Chase Straw , Ph . D .

Howdy STMA members ! By now , if you ’ ve read any of my previous President ’ s Messages , you ’ ve probably figured out that I ’ m big into using quotes . I figure why struggle to say something that someone else has already summed up for me in a better manner . As I was looking for my usual gem of knowledge to share this month , I came across this quote from University of Alabama Head Football Coach , Nick Saban , about the five choices we have in life .

“ You know , we have about five choices in our life ,” he said . “ We can be bad at what we do . We can be average at what we do . We can be good at what we do – which probably is God ’ s expectation for whatever ability He gave us . Or we can be excellent … or we can be elite .”

Saban went on to further discuss the topic of what it takes to be excellent / elite :

“ Everybody has a choice as to what they want to do and how they want to do that ,” he said . “ But if you ’ re going to be excellent or elite , you ’ ve got to do special things . You have to have special intensity , you have to have a special focus , you have to have a special commitment , and drive , and passion to do things at a high level and a high standard all the time . It doesn ’ t matter what God-given ability that you have … that probably can make you good . But without the rest of it , I ’ m not sure if you ever get excellent or elite , and that ’ s the part that we ’ re trying to get to .” So , a lot of you might be wondering what this has to do with being a sports field manager . One of my favorite things about sports is that the skills and lessons learned through them translate well beyond the game and into the rest of our lives . These are the same skills and traits that are mentioned above , and we , as sports field managers , do them on a daily basis .

The big takeaway for me from Saban ’ s statement is this : life is about choice . We can choose to have a positive or a negative attitude , we can choose to be thankful instead of ungrateful , and we can choose to be excellent / elite as opposed to bad / average / good . We have the choice every day to be elite , and that requires a conscious , deliberate effort .

As we continue through this year , let ’ s all make that choice and be the best we can be ! SFM

Nick McKenna , CSFM

Nick McKenna , CSFM STMA President nmckenna @ athletics . tamu . edu sportsfieldmanagementonline . com May 2021 | SportsField Management

7