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 ! A couple weeks ago I was scrolling through Facebook , and I came across a post from a former teacher and high school coach of mine . The post was a picture of a tree with the following quote below it : “ The one who plants trees , knowing that he or she will never sit in their shade , has at least started to understand the meaning of life .” ( Rabindranath Tagore ).

In that moment , that quote stuck with me only enough to take a quick screenshot of it to stumble across someday down the road . However , a few days later , that quote took on a greater meaning , as I learned that my former teacher / coach had passed away unexpectedly . Coach Parker , as I knew him , wasn ’ t the greatest influence of my life ; and to be honest , he probably wouldn ’ t even be on my top 10 list . But I would be lying if I said he didn ’ t have an impact on my life . He worked in our school system for many years … long enough to have taught and coached both of my older siblings and eventually me and my younger sister . He was my first “ coach ” that I remember outside of my father , and he helped play a role in me developing a love for the sport of wrestling – a sport that , to this day , still influences the type of worker , leader , mentor and spouse that I am . It ’ s a sport that teaches hard work , discipline , accountability , mental toughness and respect ( just to name a few ), and this man played a part in cultivating those things in me . Coach Parker not only understood the meaning of that quote , but he lived it daily by “ planting trees ” in the form of the thousands of kids he taught and coached throughout his career .

I was very fortunate to be able to catch up with him over dinner a few years ago in San Antonio while there for a turfgrass conference . We talked about me and my career , our families , about life

in general , and , of course , about wrestling . I hope it brought him as much happiness as it did for me to be able to share those things so he could see firsthand one of the trees he helped to plant 30-plus years ago .

As STMA members , we have that same opportunity . Whether with our colleagues , user groups , fan bases or our communities , what we do now can and will influence the future of our industry . So , get out there at plant some trees ( or natural grass )! SFM

Nick McKenna , CSFM

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

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