Officers

President : Sun Roesslein , CSFM

President Elect : Adam Thoms , Ph . D .

Secretary-Treasurer : Alpha Jones , CSFM

Vice President Commercial : Erin Boyd Wilder

Directors

Academic : Chase Straw , Ph . D .

At-Large ( elected ): Kyle Patterson

At-Large ( appointed ): Lee Van Meeteren

Commercial : Warren Gorrowitz

Higher Education : Casey Carrick , CSFM

Parks and Recreation : Zack Holm , CSFM

Professional Facilities : Dan Farnes

Schools K-12 : Jeremy Driscoll , CSFM

SFMA OFFICE P . O . Box 1673 Lawrence , KS 66044 Phone : 800-323-3875 Email : SFMAInfo @ SportsFieldManagement . org www . sportsfieldmanagement . org

SFMA EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Chair : Brad Thedens , CSFM Vice Chair : TJ Brewer , CSFM Board Liaison : Chase Straw , Ph . D . Members : Matthew Arms , CSFM ; Joe Churchill ; Cliff Driver , CSFM ; Kate Garassino ; Rebecca Knapp , CSFM ; and Tony Koski .

Editor ’ s note : Throughout 2024 , members of the SFMA Board of Directors are providing editorial content in lieu of the President ’ s Message by Sun Roesslein , CSFM . These diverse perspectives offer additional and unique insight into SFMA and industry initiatives . This month ’ s column was written by SFMA Elected Director at Large , Kyle Patterson , park services manager for the City of Roswell Recreation , Parks , Historic and Cultural Affairs department .

State and regional chapters of SFMA are the true lifeblood of our association . SFMA affiliated its first chapter more than 25 years ago , and now has 34 chapters throughout the United States that represent more than 6,000 sports field management professionals .

As great as it is to be involved on the national stage , I find immense value in the connections I have made locally through Georgia SFMA , as well as regionally through the North Carolina , South Carolina and Tennessee Valley SFMA chapters . We all deal with similar challenges throughout the year — from weather to IPM to how we manage increased usage at our facilities due to the explosion of travel youth sports — but we all have different ways of successfully navigating them .

But what makes a successful local chapter ? There are useful resources on the SFMA website that lay the groundwork for how to organize and operate a successful chapter . There you can find anything from support with membership outreach and recruitment to ideas for field days and educational topics — all very helpful if you ’ re talking the X ’ s and O ’ s of chapter management .

And no chapter in our industry is successful without support from

Kyle Patterson Elected Director at Large kpatterson @ roswellgov . com

local and national suppliers . It takes financial backing to run a chapter , and the symbiotic relationship between turf industry suppliers and their consumers will forever be a key to success .

Although everything mentioned above is important , there ’ s one piece of the puzzle no amount of training or money can bring to the table : It takes a dedicated team , and team leader , to pull it all together and propel a chapter either off the ground or forward to bigger and better things . It only takes one person who has a vision for what their local chapter can be to start setting the wheels in motion . It takes the team around that leader to help with the incredible lift that is running a state or regional SFMA chapter .

So here is my challenge to you : Go be a part of something great — something bigger than yourself . Be the leader who picks up a struggling chapter and gets it back on track . Go be involved on the board of your local chapter and help the current team solve something they ’ re struggling with . Bring an innovative idea to the table that makes a difference locally next year .

It doesn ’ t happen overnight , but there is nothing better than seeing the results of your hard work . SFM

sportsfieldmanagementonline . com September 2024 | SportsField Management

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