WALSH FIELD AT PACE ACADEMY RIVERVIEW SPORTS COMPLEX
FIELD OF THE YEAR SCHOOLS AND PARKS FOOTBALL
WALSH FIELD AT PACE ACADEMY RIVERVIEW SPORTS COMPLEX
This year has challenged our crew immensely . We were left , like so many others in the sport turf industry , with many questions and concerns about when events would resume after COVID-19 shut down the country . However , we took it upon ourselves to start preparing Walsh Field to be the best it could be for whenever that time came . Lucky for us , it came sooner rather than later . We were extremely grateful when we learned that Pace Academy had deemed our Facilities and Grounds department essential workers . This meant our jobs were safe and they felt the need for us to continue to strive to do our best for whenever our facilities and Walsh Field were called upon .
That came in many forms over the spring and summer . One such way was a group of NFL players needed a private field and open area . Queue Walsh Field . Our crew spent five weeks preparing and painting Walsh Field for those professional player workouts .
Just as we had answered the call for those athletes , we answered the call from our own . After the GHSA deemed it safe enough for students to return to practice , we had Walsh and the facilities ready for them as well . They spent two weeks at Walsh for their summer workouts , which are normally held at the school ’ s location , not Riverview .
Along with all the workouts and training sessions we were lucky enough to hold at Walsh , we were also able to host the class of 2020 ’ s high school graduation . This was another first for Pace , as they normally have their graduation ceremony indoors . However , with the crisis we faced , the open air and spacious room of Walsh Field seemed to be the only logical solution .
After all those events and training sessions during the summer , it was finally time to gear up for football games . We hosted nine games in nine weeks , having only one week without a game . We also dealt with less-thanideal weather conditions for the majority of those games , with hurricane Sally dumping more than 4 inches of rain in less than 36 hours . With the crew ’ s hard work , Walsh Field ’ s playability never wavered .
Even with most of the country being out of commission , our crew was hard at work making sure Walsh Field was not only accessible , but one of the top playing surfaces around .
— Daniel Prince , sports turf manager
The Field of the Year Awards program is made possible by the support of sponsors Carolina Green Corp ., Precision Laboratories , and John Deere .
12 SportsField Management | September 2021 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com