SportsField Management( SFM): Congratulations on the Field of the Year win. What are you most proud of with this win? Aaron Fink: I’ m always most proud of my staff. It’ s a total team effort when it comes to maintaining fields for two professional teams at three different facilities. There’ s no way I could get everything done by myself. There’ s many days where they are by themselves doing all of the day-to-day operations at each facility. When they decide to pursue their next career opportunity, along with their work history and skills, they’ ll be able to put“ Field of the Year winner” on their resume. That’ s a pretty impressive bullet point that may end up getting them a job in the future. Ultimately, I want to see them succeed, and winning this award is a great stepping stone in their career trajectory.
SFM: What were the biggest challenges you have faced with the winning field, and how have you approached those challenges? Fink: Our location in the middle of the transition zone is always our biggest struggle. Mother Nature never wants to quite work along with us, and we don’ t have a perfect grass type to make it through the three to sometimes four seasons of a professional soccer calendar( March-November). We’ re lucky to have a supportive ownership team and use many tools including grow lights, blankets, and some subsurface heat to help attempt to extend our growing season.
SFM: Can you share a little about your overall management approach to the winning field and what you feel have been the most important aspects to getting this field to an award-winning level? Fink: As mentioned above, the length of our season and weather can be a challenge. As a manager, I try to keep things as simple as possible with my staff and involve them in the decision-making process. Ultimately, when we are all providing knowledgeable insight, we create an incredibly strong team to get us through the difficult times during the season. I don’ t remember many times when we were faced with a situation that we weren’ t prepared for or able to overcome. That’ s a direct result of how strong my staff was this season, and a reason for being regarded as one of the best playing surfaces.
sportsfieldmanagementonline. com May 2025 | SportsField Management
13