Sports Turf Manager Association

Similarities an Ocean Apart - Part 1

First - my visit to College Park, Maryland and Milwaukee, Wisconsin to meet the siblings of Dr. Fred Grau and Harry Gill was beyond words. Fred’s daughter, Ellen Mentzer and Fred jr. shared slides, pictures, articles and publications that are still in the home where Fred Sr. lived but time didn’t permit me to see everything. I did get some wonderful things which I will be sharing with you from time to time in this newsletter and at the annual conference. More importantly, the Grau siblings are special people and everyone will benefit from this experience and the newly developed friendship. Harry Gill III, also known as “Bud” Gill, was equally congenial and I was able to borrow pictures and things to copy for use by STMA. I am so glad I was able to do this for STMA as we now have a great collection of our history preserved. Going through the boxes of the lives of Fred and Harry made me aware that someday my children will have to do this with my things and I decided that I want to make a commitment now to give my things to STMA when the time comes. Why not consider this same thing for your part in the STMA history?

Secondly, I am about to leave on a trip with Alain Langlois, owner of Lanco, the drainage folks from Montreal, Canada to visit several of STMA’s friends in the UK. We are visiting John Souter (Scotland), Brian Robinson, John Warner, Davis Shelton, Derek Walder (England) and many others from the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) to observe the latest ideas, technology and equipment that are being used and sold for drainage, construction, and maintenance of sports fields. We will also spend a few days at Saltex the IOG’s trade show where 8,000 grounds personnel will assemble at the Windsor Race Course near London. This month I want to highlight the history of the IOG for our members so they can see a parallel with the history of our organization.

Before he died in 1990, IOG founder and president, W. H. “Bill” Bowles wrote the following and fascinating account of how the work of the IOG was pioneered through the National
Association of Groundsmen .......

When I was a schoolboy I lived on a sportsground where my father was groundsman, and so I began acquiring some knowledge of the upkeep of playing areas at an early age. I kept to grounds work when I left school and then, losing my father shortly afterwards during World War I, I found myself in charge of a sportsground.

From that time onward I produced playing pitches as best I could, assisted by what I remembered of my father’s work and from a short experience elsewhere. I was friendly with a few neighboring groundsmen, but they were very close about their methods and tended to keep any know-how under their hats. This attitude was pretty general around the 1920’s - there seemed to be a fear that a man was risking his job if he gave any information to another.

With this isolation business in mind, together with the general detachment of groundsmen, I considered the possibility of forming an association and began mentioning my idea to various friends in order to get some opinions.

Amongst the older groundsman who were well established and past the age when they could benefit from such an association were George Lane (Dulwich College) and G. Mullinden (National Provincial Bank). They welcomed the idea and wished such an organization had been formed earlier. Others were less enthusiastic and some were apprehensive about the prospect.

However, in 1933 things began to move. Someone suggested contacting Herbert Robinson who had a wide association with groundsman. Mr. Robinson gave me names and addresses of head grounds-men employed in well-known areas. I was impressed as one was Harry White of Lords (cricket ground).

With the assistance of my wife, who helped considerably during those early days, letters were sent out to 30 groundsmen in different parts of London, inviting them to the ‘London Stone’ (a pub) on 10 January 1934 to hear my proposal. Although only 11 of the 30 invited showed up, it was an auspicious occasion. Each of those 11 welcomed the prospect of an association and handed in subscriptions (dues) there and then. Elections were held and I became secretary. Our deliberations that evening made us enthusiastic for this new fraternity and we came away determined to enroll every groundsman we met.

We held our first annual dinner at the White Horse Restaurant in Holborn. The press accepted our invitation and thus we had our first newspaper report. Yes we were all very keen, and every step forward thrilled us. In 1936 I found the secretaryship becoming too much for me so Charles Littlefield took over for me and I became chairman.

The war (WW II) caused temporary abandonment of the group, but after it was over we lost no time in resuming our activities. Littlefield made contacts with Sheffield (city) and they became our first provincial branch (chapter).

The untiring efforts of Charles Littlefield in all directions kept the groundsmen’s association steadily growing. To him must go much of the credit for the first Hurlingham exhibition (Saltex today) held at the Hurlingham Club (a club along the river Thames featuring bowling greens, croquet greens, lawn tennis courts, and spacious grounds for a large trade show).

Looking back, it was not all clear sailing in those pioneer days. We had our disagreements and we were all new to the fundamentals of organization, but we were all out to achieve something for the good of all groundsmen, and with that in common we continued to go forward.

William Bowles lived to see his organization grow into the largest sports turf association in the world with the largest trade show (Saltex at Windsor) and attendance exceeding 8,000 members and guests from around the world. I met Bill twice during the 1980’s at the Windsor show when I was Executive Director for STMA. I read recently that Bill’s grand- nephew, Martin Smith, joined the grounds staff at Merrist Wood College where he is studying sportsturf management.

Next Issue - Where the IOG is today and what activities are they doing for their members.

Know any students?

Be sure to encourage them to apply for an STMA scholarship. The application is online, or the student can request one from their turfgrass professor or STMA headquarters. The application has been simplified for 2005-2006 applicants and includes a checklist to aid the student in completing the application package. Last year STMA awarded more than $18,000 in scholarship and education expenses. Scholarship applications are due to STMA headquarters by Oct. 1.

Education expansion: Lands Conference, NRPA, NIAAA

STMA is involved in expanding its educational programs to those who need sports field specific information.

The association is sponsoring the sports turf track on Oct. 15, at the annual Lands Conference held in conjunction with the International Lawn, Garden and Power Equipment Exposition in Louisville, Ky. To see speaker bios and to learn more about the educational opportunities available at the LandsConference go to www.landsconference.com/.

STMA members will be presenting two educational sessions on behalf of STMA at the National Recreation and Parks Association conference in San Antonio in October. Hear Dr. A.J. Powell, Extension Turfgrass Specialist at the University of Kentucky, present on Thurs., Oct. 20, 2-3:15 p.m. on Natural vs. Synthetic Turf. Kevin Trotta, Head Groundskeeper at the North Rockland Central School District in Garnerville, N.Y, will present Low Maintenance and Chemical-Free Sports Fields on Fri., Oct. 21, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m. For more information on the NRPA conference, go to www.nrpa.org.

The National Interscholastic Association of Athletic Administrators (NIAAA) continues to seek education and information from STMA members. As part of our ongoing partnership, STMA chapters have the opportunity to include NIAAA members at their local educational events. STMA Chapter Presidents will be receiving information later this month about how to access NIAAA members’ contact information.

Summer Shirt Sale -- $14.95 each

Now is the time to purchase STMA clothing. The STMA Store has eight different shirts on sale now for $14.95 -- perfect for early holiday shopping!

$14.95 Sale items include:

• Anvil Henley long sleeve
• Luna Pier Long Sleeve Twill — Men’s
• Luna Pier Long Sleeve Twill — Women’s
• Luna Pier Pique Polo
• Luna Pier Short Sleeve Twill — Men’s
• Luna Pier Short Sleeve Twill — Women’s
• Rivers End Denim Shirt — Men’s
• Rivers End Denim Shirt — Women’s

To purchase a shirt, go to http://stma.ideal-stores.com/

Every sports turf manager is in the business of hosting events. Soccer, baseball, football, concerts, softball, graduations … the list goes on. There is an important management technique that you may not be fully utilizing that could provide greater recognition for your work: Fact Sheets.

Post a simple fact sheet about the field(s) in a visible spot. Place it on a bulletin board in locker rooms, at the concession/administrative area at a complex, at a directional kiosk, on your web site, etc. You should also distribute it to your user groups for publication in a newsletter or insertion into mailings, and distribute it as appropriate to your media relations office/department for inclusion in game day programs. Remember, the more knowledgeable your constituents are about the work you do, the more respect you will earn for that work.

Consider including:

• Type of turfgrass and its characteristics;
• soil conditions and soil construction mix;
• field size;
• source of water and irrigation information;
• schedules for mowing, fertilization, irrigation, field marking;
• mowing height and patterns;
• date the field was constructed/renovated;
• number of games played on it/them annually;
• field rotation schedule;
• any special management techniques for multi-use sports/other events;
• interesting tidbits;
• other pertinent field information, such as when you aerify and why
• and, of course highlight your role as the sports turf manager.

Emphasize safety as your number one goal for the field(s) and describe how your management helps keep conditions safe for play. Following is a sample of how the one-page Fact Sheet can flow. If your field is constructed of synthetic material, adapt the above list to provide pertinent information about the care of synthetic fields to your user groups.

Fact Sheet.pdf (20 KB)