FIELD OF THE YEAR COLLEGE BASEBALL
My career path started in Minor League Baseball in the Midwest . Once I knew I wanted to keep working in the sports turf world and advance my career , I moved to Arizona and worked at spring training sites . As time went by , and I felt I was ready to continue to advance my career , I took a job as head groundskeeper for Triple-A New Orleans . They eventually moved the team out of New Orleans , but I elected to stay in Louisiana and eventually landed at the University of New Orleans .
SportsField Management ( SFM ): Congratulations on the Field of the Year win . What are you most proud of with this win , and / or what do you think stands out most about the winning field ? Scott Blanchette : What makes me most proud of this win is that I achieved it by myself . As the sports turf manager , I had zero full-time staff and two seasonal game day staff . My seasonal game day staff was awesome , and I appreciate the time they took to come help me , as they had other full-time jobs or school . It took tremendous time management and effort to turn Maestri Field around . I could not have done it without the support of my employer , ABM . One thing that stands out to me is the respect players , coaches and staff have for the surface . In a conference full of artificial turf , I am constantly receiving compliments and questions regarding the surface . An athlete from a visiting team once said to me , “ I am going to miss playing here .”
SFM : What attracted you to a career in sports field management , and what has been your career path through the industry ? Blanchette : I think what attracts me to being in sports turf is the well-rounded individual you need to be to be successful . You deal with a lot of different situations , people and workloads , and it forces me to be a good manager . Add baseball to the mix , and I feel it is a perfect fit for me .
SFM : Who were your mentors in the industry and / or what is the best piece of advice you have received ? Blanchette : In my time working on baseball fields , there are some people who have really helped advance my career , and I wouldn ’ t be where I am today without their support . Joey Fitzgerald and the staff I worked with at Camelback Ranch Spring Training — Los Angeles Dodgers are always at the top of my list . I learned a lot from them , and it really shaped me into the type of sports turf manager I am today . Glenn Lucas has also been great support and has a wealth of knowledge , being in the sports turf industry for 25 years . Some advice I received from Joey was to always keep getting better , and always be looking to find ways to get better . I have tried to apply that to every aspect of the playing surface , and I believe it has helped me tremendously .
SFM : What were the biggest challenges you have faced with the winning field , and how have you approached those challenges ? Blanchette : Maestri Field ’ s surface is an older surface — it was new after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 . Therefore , over the years there have been some grade issues that have arisen with the field . Due to tight budgets , I had to find ways to make the improvements . We did not have the means to just rip out the infield and start over . It takes being a great manager and finding ways to keep improving . SFM sportsfieldmanagementonline . com November 2024 | SportsField Management
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