On Sept. 18, Kyley Dickson, Ph.D., University of Tennessee presented two talks in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He spoke on soils and overseeding to 180 people from several South American countries. The seminar, hosted by ProField, SA, was SFMA’s second international appearance this year. On Aug. 31, Weston Appelfeller, CSFM, SFMA board member and Director of Grounds for the Columbus Crew SC, presented to nearly 100 field managers in Santiago, Chile during an educational event sponsored by Turf Masters.
SFMA has been invited to speak Dec. 6-7 in Kunming, China to sports fields managers and other management in China Soccer Association (CSA) and the Super League. This educational event is being hosted by the Forward Group, Carmel, IN. SFMA will have a presenter speak about on-field preparation for high profile events. Additional presenters include Kyley Dickson, Ph.D. and Trey Rogers, Ph.D., Michigan State University.
These speaking engagements are the result of the work of the SFMA International Committee. Its focus is on outreach and sharing of information and resources to those outside of the U.S. The current strategy is to work with companies and organizations that already have a presence in another country and to co-sponsor an educational program. The Committee is chaired by Abby McNeal, CSFM, and its members include Robert Anthony, Steve Ballard, Joshua Bertrand, Roberto Gurgel, Francisco Manuel Guzman, Kun Li, Henrique Mayer, Marcela Munoz, Thomas Nielsen, Andrew Rountree, CSFM, Jeff Salmond, CSFM, Don Scholl, CSFM, and Jimmy Simpson, CSFM.
SFMA invites any commercial companies or organizations that work outside of the U.S. and who are interested in partnering on a similar educational program to contact CEO Kim Heck at kheck@stma.org.
