Sports Turf Manager Association

I recently came across a document that our good friend, the late Dr. Fred Grau, wrote in 1984 entitled “For Sports, The Word is SMOOTH “. I would like to share this musing with you this month.

Basketball players running full tilt down the court have no fear of a rut, an unexpected hole or a sudden high point which could cause the player to trip, fall, and sustain possible severe injuries. The court is SMOOTH!

Tennis players enjoy smooth, unruffled surfaces on which to enjoy their vigorous fast foot-work game. They have no cause to fear twisted ankles due to a rough, rutted surface. The surface is SMOOTH!

Other sports such as racquetball, handball, lawn bowling and baseball are favored with smooth playing surfaces. On rare occasions a baseball outfield may be less than 100% smooth. Few outfielders will tolerate an uneven rough condition for long. Sports turf managers can ill afford to be the cause of ankle injuries to valuable players

Football comes in various sizes and categories. Artificial surfaces are the ultimate in SMOOTHNESS but lack something in resiliency and cushion. Big league and college stadiums cater to the smooth.

Soccer is a vigorous running sport played on natural turf fields. Here, as in basketball, the quality smooth is of utmost importance. It is a sad commentary that some schools have been forced to close out this popular sport because there have been so many injuries. It is ROUGH RUTTED fields that allow players to incur ankle and knee injuries. A soccer player running hard, stepping into a hole, is roughly equivalent to an automobile, going 50 miles per hour, hitting an unseen chuck hole. Both types of injuries, flesh and mechanical, can be repaired at a cost of time and money. Flesh and blood may not be restored to its original perfection as can the cars damage.

My statistics may be at fault but the point can be made anyway that here in 1984 it is estimated that there are 13 million golfers in the US and some 8 million players enjoy soccer. I’ve never heard of a golfer breaking an ankle on a tee, fairway, or putting green. Oh yes, complaints are heard if the ball “jumps”. No golf course has ever been closed due to rough, rutted playing surfaces.

Why do we, parents, players and spectators alike, continue to tolerate rough, dangerous sports playing surfaces? Is it apathy? Is it lack of equipment, knowledge, money? All three can be furnished if we care enough.

That which you have read thus far is preamble. In my 57 years of expounding on the cause of Better Turf , encouraging the training of graduate students, counseling on every major outdoor sport (except cricket), there has been no national or international organization deeply concerned with sports turf other than golf. Many sports organizations exist but they have not acted cooperatively - unison - to provide smooth playing surfaces as in golf.

Long before there were aerifiers, long-lasting fertilizers, improved grasses and turf research of any real value to sports fields, I had been involved in trying to improve sports fields of many kinds. It was a tough battle.

These years of frustration, experience and interaction with apathy and indifference culminated one night at my home in College Park, Maryland. For many years Mrs. Grau (Ann) and I participated in the local PTA organizations. These potentially powerful groups apparently never had been coordinated for the good of the sports fields. On a hunch I telephoned national PTA headquarters in Chicago, where I presented my plan of involving all PTA groups in a broad effort to reduce injuries on playing field by growing Better Turf . Dr. Stienkeneyer was interested. She referred me to Dr. Carter, Program Director who likewise was intrigued. The initial idea was formed and called “BAT TRITTY”(Better Athletic Turf - To Reduce Injuries to the young).

The concept of “BAT TRITTY” gave way to PTA/PTI and eventually to the National Sports Turf Council which met biannually at the USDA Research facility in Beltsville, Maryland and represented many major groups such as STMA (Kurtz), The Lawn Institute ( Roberts), the NFLPA ( Macik), PGMS ( Shoulders), USDA ( Murray), commercial companies ( Watson, etc.), the University of Maryland (Turner), Virginia Polytechnic ( Hall), Penn State University ( Harper & Waddington) and others.

The ultimate success of the PTA/PTI is bolstered by the fact that every parent with children want to have them enjoy SAFE sports on SMOOTH fields. After all our young people deserve the best while they are in their formative stage, as bones and muscle are maturing.

Today - 1984 - the National Sports Turf Council is acting to coordinate efforts to improve turf and playing surfaces of sports other than golf. Essentially the professional sports fields which have competent managers and good budgets would have lower priority. We aim at the elementary, Junior and high school fields that seem to receive minimal attention.

We will need help - lots of it. We believe that the effort will be very much worthwhile.

* Note: The PTA/PTI and National Sports Turf Council never reached their potential due to the deaths of Dr. Fred Grau and Jack Murray and no longer exist. This challenge and opportunity might be something STMA should investigate for the future.

STMA moves into on-line learning! STMA is the sponsor of the Sports Turf Track at the annual Lands Conference, which is held in conjunction with the International Lawn, Garden, and Power Equipment Exposition in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 14-16. The sessions will be offered on-line during and after the conference and will award CEUs. The sports turf track will be presented on Sat., Oct. 15 and includes:

1) Managing Healthy Sports Fields, by Tom Samples, Ph.D., University of Tennessee and Paul Sachs, North County Organics

2) Efficient Irrigation Management for Sports Fields, by Dave Minner, Ph.D., Iowa Sate University and Lynda Wightman, Hunter Industries

3) Developing an Aerification Program Specific to Sports Fields, by Trent Hale, Ph.D., Clemson University and Dale Getz, The Toro Company.

For more information on how you can register for the conference or take an on-line demo, click here. http://www.greenindustryeducation.com/landsconference/mauget.html

A New Face -- New STMA Treasurer Appointed

Mike Trigg, CSFM and President of the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) appointed Chris Calcaterra, CSFM to the STMA Board of Directors effective immediately. Calcaterra will fill the remaining term of the Treasurer’s office. The office became vacant when Boyd Montgomery, CSFM, resigned his Treasurer’s position due to a job change that places him in the commercial category. STMA bylaws allow commercial members to hold only two positions on the board: the Commercial Vice President and the Commercial Representative position. Calcaterra currently serves on the STMA Finance and Audit Committee and has served on the Conference Education Committee.

Calcaterra is the Sports Facilities Manager for the City of Peoria, Arizona. The Peoria Sports Complex is the major league baseball spring training facility for the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres. He joined the city owned complex in 1998, and manages the maintenance and operations of the 16-field, 145-acre sports facility as well as the 54-acrea Rio Vista Community Sports Park.

His prior experience includes Assistant Field Director for the National League Atlanta Braves as well as working for the University of Georgia Athletic Department. While working for the Atlanta Braves, he was the 1996 Olympic Assistant Field Director for the Baseball Venue.

Calcaterra earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Georgia, a Masters in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University and became a Certified Sports Field Manager in 2003. He serves as an adjunct faculty member for Glendale Community College. He has served as President of the Arizona STMA chapter since 2002. He is also a member of the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and volunteers on numerous boards, associations and advisory committees.

Take Pride in Your Profession — Enter Your Field in the STMA Awards Program

Submit your field for the 2005 STMA Field of the Year and show the world that your season never ends. Garner respect from your peers and national media attention for your field.

Each winning entry will receive an Award, an STMA Jacket, FREE registration to the STMA Conference, and up to $500 towards travel/lodging.

Also, nominate someone who has made contributions to the profession for the STMA Founders Awards.

For more information, click here or contact STMA Headquarters at lcraig@sportsturfmanager.org or at ph. 800.323.3875

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 14, 2005

Free Money for Students who Qualify for an STMA Scholarship

STMA student members, scholarship money is waiting for you. Just fill out the simple application located at /Professionalism/SCHOL/INTRO/ and include a certified copy of your college transcript and a short (300-500 words) biographical essay. Applications must be received by no later than October 1, 2005.

The applicants are judged on academic preparation, cumulative grade point average, experience in sports turf management, and references provided by student advisors and previous or current employers. They are also evaluated on their contributions to their school, department, and organizations to which they belong, as well as their career objectives. Last year 13 students received more than $18,000 in scholarship dollars and educational assistance.

IMAGE ALIGNMENT
by Dr. John C. Maxwell

Leadership Wired

Looking back, it's easy to see how my self-image–how I viewed myself–had a direct bearing upon my effectiveness–or lack thereof–that day. After that experience, I began to understand that leaders must believe in themselves before they can ever hope to believe in their people. I also realized that, as a leader, if I've not bought in to myself, no one else is going to buy in to me either.

Each one of us has an internal mirror that reflects how we see ourselves. And what we see in this mirror determines how we act as leaders. In other words, our self-image determines our behavior. That's why it's impossible for a person with a poor self image to produce consistently on a high level. It simply can't happen, because we cannot conduct our daily affairs in a way that contradicts how we see ourselves. On the other hand, when a leader believes he can do a good job and views himself as successful, his actions will show it.

Sadly, many leaders don't have an accurate picture of themselves because their internal mirrors are distorted. Because they're unable to see themselves as they really are, they're forever trying to find the right image to present to others. Some project an image that is bigger than they really are; others project an image that is smaller than they really are. Either way, the result is internal confusion.

A key to effectiveness–in life and as a leader–is to project a true image of who you are. The only problem is that we all carry with us four images of ourselves that can cause us to act differently with different people. These four images are:

1. The image that others have of us. This is how the people around us–the ones who observe us at our best and our worst–see us.

2. The image that we project to others. This is how we want others to view us.

3. The image we have of ourselves. This is how we actually view ourselves. Many times, this image does not match what we project to others.

4. Our true self. This includes our character and gifts; it represents who we were created to be.

When these four images don't match, we know it. This awareness might be subconscious, but it's there nonetheless. And it weighs us down.

The solution lies in making sure that these four images are as closely aligned as possible. You see, we can be emotionally healthy only when the image that other people have of us, the image that we project to others, the image that we have of ourselves and our true selves all match. The more distortion there is–among any or all of these images–the less healthy our self-image is, and the less effective our leadership will be.Marcus Aurelius said, "I often marvel how it is that, though each man loves himself beyond all else, he should yet value his own opinion of himself less than that of others." As I learned so many years ago, when it comes to leadership, the first person you must believe in is yourself. The mirror reminds me that I must read myself well before I can ever attempt to read others.