FIELD OF THE YEAR SCHOOLS AND PARKS SPORTING GROUNDS
do you balance your workload , and what does your typical process look like for managing your fields / facilities ? Prince : It is pretty much only us two that take on the field work . We have a few other guys that help when we need facility maintenance , but when it comes time to do anything on the fields it ’ s normally only Larry and myself . Our process is I come up with a game plan on what needs to be done and our timeline for each part of our turf program , and then divide out the responsibilities between Larry and myself to accomplish each task . Larry has been here for each of our FOY wins and is a vital part of making the fields look and play the way they do .
SFM : You mentioned in your FOY application about hosting a Fall Fair carnival on the Pace Academy Lacrosse Field . What is your approach for dealing with non-sports-related events / activities on your fields , and / or what advice do you have for other sports field managers when it comes to managing these types of events ? Prince : First , we look at what type of event it is , how much traffic , wear areas we are going to have , and the volume of people on the field . Once we have that nailed down , we look and see how long the event is going to be , and how long the set-up will take . If it ’ s a couple days that we are going to have stuff out on our fields , we know we have to apply to correct foliars to help mitigate the damage of the plant itself . We normally apply PGRs , fungicides and some low-level fertilizers to get our grass through the stress it ultimately undergoes in these situations .
SFM : Is there anything we might not have touched on here , or in previous interviews regarding your FOY wins , that you would like to share ? Prince : I would say it ’ s just an honor to work at a school that takes pride in their fields and respects the personnel that makes each game and event happen . Our Directors , Dave and Wes Fortier , and our Headmaster , Fred Assaf , understand what it takes to maintain these fields at the level we strive to achieve . At a high school level , that is hard to come by these days . SFM sportsfieldmanagementonline . com November 2023 | SportsField Management
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