Summer 2015 Sidelines

Texas Sports Turf Managers Association Txstma.org

Providing education and training for safer and healthier sports turf facilities

Summer 2015

Spring Field Day Season has been very busy! Thank you to all of the TXSTMA members who attended one of their region’s Field Days. We had three great events to kickoff the year!

The second half of 2015 has more to come! Check out our action packed schedule!

Gold Sponsor - Harrell's Silver Sponsors Thomas Grass Pioneer Athletics Bronze Sponsor - Pinon Ranch Lunch Sponsors Austin Turf and Tractor GLK Turf Solutions

Region 3 University of Mary Hardin Baylor

Region 2 Alvin ISD Manvel High School Region 1 Globe Life Park Arlington Texas

WOW!!!

I think we have had enough rain for now. At least the DFW area sure has had more than enough. Many of you have been dealing with flooding situations over the past 30-45 days. If you have been one of the fortunate ones and haven’t had to deal with it, count your blessing.

Don’t forget to call your fellow sports turf manager down the street and offer help and or equipment if your employer will allow it, because one day that person might be in a situation to help you out if you get caught in a bind.

I hope you took time out of your busy schedule to join your fellow sports field manager at one of our most recent field days. In March Region 2 at Mary Hardin Baylor we had a great line up of speakers. One being Tom Burns former Texas Ranger Sports Field Manager talking about mound maintenance. We had a great turnout of membership in the mid 60’s numbers. In Region 3 in April our meetRemember be specific for what you pray ing was at Manvel High in for or you could get this!!! the Alvin School District.

My Adult Softball Fields on May 30!!

Thanks to Dr. Casey Reynolds for his educational insights. Turnout for that event was in the mid 40’s range and for the field day in Region 2 at Globe Life Park home of the Texas Rangers.

We were sent over the top with a turnout of over 90’s folks. Thanks to Josh Marden, CSFM with his talk on managing dirt. Boyd Montgomery, CSFM giving us sound advice of, you can never aerate too much (right on the money in my opinion). And thanks to Simon Gumbrill for showing us grass growing techniques using Grow Light technology.

Special thanks to Dennis Kline with the Texas Rangers for giving us a tour of his facilities, on a game day as well as getting us hooked up with some great seats.

FYI: the Rangers have been on an upward swing (winning way) since we were there.

Your friend in turf,

Thank you to our 2015 Star Sponsors.

Your generous support is greatly appreciated.

2015 Three-Star Sponsor

July 13, 2015 Texas Tech University - Turfgrass Research Field Day Details of Event Coming Soon

September 29, 2015 Region 1 DFW Clay Shoot Scholarship Fundraiser Date TBD, Fall 2015 Region 2 Clay Shoot Scholarship Fundraiser Date TBD, Fall 2015 Region 3 Clay Shoot Scholarship Fundraiser October 2015 Texas A & M University - Education and Field Day Event

These are just a few of the events that will be coming your way in 2015! We will post more details and events as they become available. All dates are tentative and subject to change.

2015 One Star Sponsors

CLICK IT!

A few of the guys discussing what it would be like to hit a 95 mph fast ball with 40,000 fans watching your every move.

The attendees are welcomed by Rusty Walker CSFM. Another record setting crowd of 90 enjoyed the Capital One Club.

Total luxury....thank you Rangers!

The ballpark tour started on the right field warning track. Attendees were granted full access to the field and dugouts.

Elvis' view is pretty awesome!

Freshly painted first base coaches box looking sharp.

Globe Life Park

Justin Kupper of Pioneer address the group about their field maintenance supplies and materials. Thank you Pioneer for being a Silver Sponsor.

Thank you Dennis Klein for a great day! Almost 100 TXSTMA members enjoyed a terrific day of networking, professional development and education.

Erin Wilder with Sod Solutions talks about Latitude 36 which is the playing surface at Globe Life Park. Sod Solutions was a Gold Sponsor for the event.

Breon Dennis, Assistant Vice President of Community Outreach for the Texas Rangers discusses the Rangers involvement in their community and welcomes everyone to the ballpark.

Raymond Miller with Dow AgroSciences provided a very useful weed identification manual and was a Lunch Sponsor.

Thank you Raymond.

Mr. Randy Price of Tri-Tex Grass thanks the membership for the opportunity to sponsor lunch. Randy's company planted the new Latitude 36 turf at Globe Life Park. Tri-Tex is a local distributor of Latitude 36 and many other fine turfgrass varieties.

BWI's Brian Ashley escaped the photographer's lens but we appreciate their Bronze Sponsorship.

Jim Newkirk, lunch sponsor with Austin Turf & Tractor addresses the meeting and thanked members for their support.

Simon Gumbrill with SGL Systems showed us fantastic pictures of lighting systems used around the world.

Thank you Turface Athletics for being a Gold Sponsor. Josh Marden gave a very informative talk titled "Soil Science and Moisture Management for Skinned Infields".

Boyd Montgomery,CSFM, CSE of the Toro Company spoke about "Aerification and Mowing Management". "Aerify, aerify, and aerify. Then if you're not sure, aerify again".

Lucky members won door prizes capping off a great day!

More details and registration instructions at: www.texasturf.com

2015 Awards Program

Adopt STMA’s Environmental Principles STMA’s Environmental Committee developed a set of environmental principles to help guide the work of sports field managers. The STMA Board of Directors subsequently adopted the principles and recommends that members also adopt them. The Principles are voluntary and are just a guide. Use them as a framework for your environmental stewardship.

They are not step-by-step instructions; rather, they represent a philosophy of responsible and sustainable field management.

With increasing scrutiny about water use, field inputs and the heightened promotion to replace natural grass with synthetic fields, adopting your version of these guidelines may help to improve the level of awareness about your environmental performance. Customize them, as appropriate. Then post them and provide them to your communications department for publication. Your field users will better understand your commitment to preserving and protecting the environment.

Once adopted, use this opportunity to promote your environmental stewardship by issuing a press release.

Our sponsors put up a great display of products at our sponsor display area. Members enjoyed kicking tires and catching up with old friends.

Thanks to all our terrific sponsors!

This Field Day was supported very well and we appreciate your continued participation. Not pictured on the banner is Rainbird. A late entry but appreciated just the same.

Fashion statement of the day included the latest in cranium protection.

President Rusty Walker CSFM considering making them mandatory at all future field days. Maybe not.

Region 3 Field Day in Alvin was a great success.

Thanks to all who sponsored and participated during this very busy time of year. Enjoy the photos from the day. More can be found at txstma.org!

Tony Romo Superfan, Tom Werner of Jacobsen paid homage to his hero with the backward cap / hardhat combination.

The day included a facility tour of the new high school site in Manvel led by Matt Webb, Owner of Athletic Field Specialists and the Landscape Architect for the project, Mike West.

The crowd gathered early as the meeting started after a reception and networking opportunity. The meeting was held on the campus of Manvel High School who welcomed us with open arms.

Josh Scott, Region 3 Director did a great job of planning, organizing and hosting the event. Josh welcomed all of the participants and gave a welcoming message and covered the

Darin Eberly of Pioneer Athletics demonstrated their new Field Sweeper on the synthetic turf at Manvel High School.

Host Josh Scott gets the first test drive. The equipment did a great job.

TXSTMA President Rusty Walker CSFM opened the education portion of the event with association announcements, introductions and special recognition of the day's sponsors. (left) The education portion of the event featured Casey Reynolds Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. He gave a very good review of Sports Field Turfgrass Management. Great job Casey! And thanks for helping to make the TXSTMA Region 3 Field Day a great success. Thanks to all who sponsored and participated and especially Josh Scott of Alvin ISD who really rolled out the red carpet for his peers.

Pioneer Athletics Have you ever noticed that a painted field looked slightly better right after it dried than after a particularly wet night?

Have you ever stepped into an area you painted yesterday only to leave tracks as you leave the painted area?

When paints are dry to the touch they begin to cure. Many solvent-based paints cure very quickly. However, waterbased paints can take hours and sometimes days to cure.

If a coating is not sufficiently cured, water can re-saturate the paint causing it to track or, in instances such as rain, run off the blade.

Various additives and formulation tricks can speed up the curing process. However, that often means compromising plant health and coating flexibility. Many of the potential additives are very damaging to grass and the soil profile. Making paint cure too quickly will leave the coating too stiff, which will cause the paint to flake off the grass blade quickly in moderate traffic.

Curing of grass paints is difficult because the plant itself is regularly releasing water. When you factor in cool weather, dew, and normal sprinkling, the curing process can take days instead of hours.

Additionally, there are circumstances when turf managers have to throw a tarp over a freshly painted field. This can virtually stop the curing process.

Fortunately, new technologies occasionally become available that give paint formulators an opportunity to make more environmentally friendly grass coatings that perform better for sports turf managers. For example, a new resin development allows us to get a water-based paint to cure much more quickly, remain very flexible, and not damage grass.

Research at various test sites throughout the US on bermudagrass, ryegrass and Kentucky bluegrass has concluded that the new resin system does not harm grass after repeat applications. Due to these results, our team of chemists was given the challenge to create a grass coating that had to be bright, durable, easy to use, have a finished film pH between 6 and 6.5, have great hiding, have as little VOCs as possible (preferably zero), dilute easily and have the other properties that sports turf managers require.

During our comparative tests with existing grass coatings, we noticed significant differences in curing and re-wetting. The new formulation was performing extremely well all summer and into early fall. Unfortunately, product development often does not move in a straight line. While trying to create a solution to one problem, you sometimes create a coating that has unexpected characteristics.

After an unusually cool and dewy evening, we noticed that the square with the experimental coating had noticeably more dew than the squares painted with our existing formulations. Regardless of the intense dew, the experimental paint did not re-wet. Although the paint on the other squares had little dew, they re-wet overnight. The water resistance of the experimental product is a result of its extreme hydrophobicity. Therefore, water will bead on the coating like water on a freshly waxed car.

Internally, we faced the question: Is this new formulation a success now that sports turf managers can get on their fields earlier in the morning without tracking paint? Or does the new formulation require additional work because turf managers might have to wait longer for the dew to dissipate? Unfortunately, the new resin technology does not play well with currently used paint technology. So, combining the two will not provide a perfect middle ground.

Our new formulation was sent to a variety of climates for evaluation. In each case, pails, randomly labeled A, B and C were sent to test sites in different regions of the US. We asked for feedback on ease of use, whiteness, brightness, quickness to dry, and tendency to re-wet. We asked each test site to carefully evaluate the health of the grass from the samples. Finally, we wanted to know if anyone saw anything different or unusual.

In general, these tests confirmed what we saw. The new formulation would not harm grass and was often brighter in the morning than other paints because no pigment bled down the blades with the dew. However, the new formulation held noticeably more dew than the surrounding areas.

Rarely do improved technologies come along that are perfect replacements for existing ingredients.

A new ingredient may significantly enhance one performance aspect while slightly degrading another. Turf coatings are carefully balanced formulations and it’s our job to find dependable solutions.

Overall, there is a steady march toward better performance, an enhanced environmental profile, and more niche products to allow turf managers greater choice in providing good looking, healthy and sustainable fields.

CLICK IT!

5 Tips to Promote Your Value.

Implement these five tips and increase respect and recognition for your expertise: 1.

Remember that sports is a service business with customers, clients, fans, vendors, staff, etc. View the field management operation not just as the agronomic arm, but as a service center. This means treating every request as an opportunity to serve your customers.

2.

Manage Up. Use the same ‘service business’ mentality with your employer by ‘managing up’. This means you anticipate his/her needs and get the work done before it gets requested. This keeps your employer from having to manage you.

3.

Ask different questions when assessing an issue. For example, What do I expect not to find? What might I be explaining away a little too quickly? Consider multiple perspectives to arrive at innovative solutions. You’ll be sought after for your decision making abilities and included in important discussions.

4.

Manners matter! Use ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, hold doors for people, and do not wear a ball cap inside. This also includes being well-groomed and dressed ap-

propriately for every situation.

5. Stay current. Add to your knowledge base by taking continuing education in agronomics and in personal development areas, especially in written and oral communication. The STMA annual conference has excellent technical and professional development sessions, so start making plans now to attend in January in San Diego. Be knowledgeable about current events, too, so you can have intelligent conversations.

Are You Connected with TXSTMA? We hope you are enjoying all of the new communication vehicles we are using to reach our members!

Please make sure your email address is current so you don’t miss out.

Let us know at txstmainfo@yahoo.com You can also “Like” us on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter!

Save The Date!

The TXSTMA is headed to West Texas to join the Texas Tech Turfgrass Field Day. Following the program at the Quaker Research Farm in the morning, the TXSTMA will meet for networking, education and a tour of the Texas Tech Athletic facility in the afternoon. Meeting details and information to follow soon at txstma.org.

First Time in West Texas!!

Join us in Red Raider Country!

**Vendors ** There are plenty of sponsorship opportunities for this event - contact carolcloud@txstma.org

How was your May? Care to share? TXSTMA members were hit very hard by the incredible rain and flooding in May. If you would like to share your photos, please send them to txstmainfo@yahoo.com. We will share them in an upcoming Scoreboard issue. Yes, that is the scoreboard in Grapevine

CLICK IT!

To say that the folks at the University of Mary Hardin - Baylor rolled out the red carpet for the March Region 2 Field Day would be quite the understatement.

Manager of Landscape Service Sean Eulenfeld and Vice President for Athletics Randy Mann greeted the TXSTMA bright and early and made sure every detail for the event was first class all the way. All 60+ of the record setting attendees enjoyed a great day of networking, education a complete tour of the UMHB Athletic facilities. The chapter and its members wish to thank Mr. Eulenfeld and Mr. Mann and their terrific staff for a very successful kickoff to the 2015 TXSTMA Field Day season.

The day started with a "New Member Meet and Greet" where our newest members were greeted by board members and welcomed to the association. This new event feature was a big hit and gave new members a chance to interact with other members in a relaxed "coffee and donut" atmosphere. If you are new to the association or would like to help welcome the "newbies" please join us at each Field Day 30 minutes prior to regular registration. You'll be glad you did.

Registration is always a great time to catch up with old colleagues and to make new friends. It's always a good idea to show up early to events - sometimes the best networking and sharing happens at events while walking in from the parking lot or standing in the coffee line. Guests at UMHB had the chance to meet in the football team meeting room as well as walk out on the stadium field during registration.

President Rusty Walker CSTM opened the meeting by welcoming and thanking attendees. He recognized the board members in attendance and introduced the new TXSTMA Chapter Executive. Region 2 Board Member and event coordinator Michael Pinon also welcomed attendees and gave a rousing talk about being involved and committed to your chapter. Pinon stressed the importance of continuing education and taking advantage of networking opportunities. It seemed that inspiration from Pinon's playing days for Coach Randy Mann kicked in to gear as his talk had most of the "team" ready to crash through the doors and hit the 50 yard line. Thank you Michael for your passion and for sharing it with the TXSTMA membership The first speaker of the day was Dr. Calvin Finch, Director of the Texas A&M Water Conservation & Technology Center. Dr. Finch gave a very good review of the research and outreach being done by at the technology center for the benefit of the state green industry. He also spoke about the importance and techniques for the very important practice of conducting routine water audits on sports fields. This information was very well received as attendees reported that water availability issues and restrictions are becoming more prevalent among TXSTMA members.

Tom Burns of Diamond Pro followed Dr. Finch with a very information talk about baseball pitcher's mound and home plate construction and maintenance. Tom's talk was full of great tips and techniques for having a great field that is both safe and the highest playing condition possible. Tom had some really great stories from his years of work at the major league level with the Texas Rangers. A favorite quote from his talk was from former Texas Ranger manager Johnny Oats who told Tom regarding field conditions, "Let's just give them a fair field and let talent decide the game." Great advice at any level. Of course, Tom had plenty of "Burnisms" including this gem - "Prepare the field everyday as if your son or daughter was playing on it". Also terrific words of wisdom.

Following the education portion of the event, our generous sponsors were given a few minutes to say hello and to talk about their new products and services for 2015. Each of our sponsors were appreciative of the opportunity to support the TXSTMA and looking forward to a great 2015. Thank you to the following sponsors who supported the March Field Day: Special shout out to brand new sponsor GLK Turf Solutions who sponsored Gold Sponsor - Harrell's Lunch along with Austin Turf and Tractor. GLK is the "new kid" on the Silver Sponsor - Thomas Grass block and working hard to become more involved with the TXSTMA and its Silver Sponsor - Pioneer Athletics members. If you haven't seen their equipment and services, check them out.

Bronze Sponsor - Pinon Ranch

Lunch Sponsors Austin Turf and Tractor GLK Turf Solutions

Lunch at the UMHB dining hall was excellent and makes it very easy to see how the "Freshman +15" happens when new students are treated to unlimited great food. TXSTMA members gave the college kids a run for their money when it came to putting away the groceries.

Following lunch, the group headed to the UMHB Sportsplex located on campus. Sean Eulenfeld gave a thorough tour of the softball, baseball and soccer complex. All were in terrific condition and Sean credited a very hard working and detail oriented staff. Sean has been employed at UMHB since December 2014 he has relied on his staff's expertise and experience to learn the ropes at the facility and to get acclimated. At the baseball field, talk and demonstrations focused on game day preparation as the UMHB team was playing a home game that night. Sean also talked about the many tools that his staff had fabricated on site that they use daily to maintain the fields to provide top conditions.

The day wrapped up with a fun door-prize drawing for the troopers who stayed for the entire event. Thanks to Raymond Miller of Dow for donating a dozen golf balls for a drawing - hopefully the winner won't have to wait until next winter to use them now that the very busy growing season is upon us. Other winners took home TXSTMA hats and Starbucks gift cards. The grand prize winner for the day was New Member Lori Briere who took home a $50 gift card to Academy. Lori is the Recreation Superintendent from the city of Harker Heights and this was her first TXSTMA event! Way to go Lucky Lady!

As part of their sponsorship, Austin Turf and Tractor was allowed to give a product demonstration and had two brand new pieces of John Deere mowing equipment on display for members to inspect and even take for a test spin. Jim Newkirk probably could have sold a couple of units that day but they were both promised to customers in North Texas. Thanks Jim for bringing the equipment and allowing our members to do a little tire kickin. As a reminder to al vendors any time of meeting sponsorship includes the opportunity to display your products, equipment or services to meeting attendees. All details need to be approved and worked out through the board of directors and facility hosts. Don't miss these great opportunities to connect with your customers.

Once again, a hearty thank you to Sean Eulenfeld and Randy Mann for their terrific hospitality and support of the TXSTMA. Our 2015 Kickoff Fiedl Day could not have been better and we really appreciate the effort by you and your staff. Attendees took away some great information that they will be able to use at their jobs and for the benefit of their facilities. Also a thanks again to our speakers - Dr. Calvin Finch and Tom Burns. Kudos to our fantastic sponsors who make this and so many things that TXSTMA is able to do for our members possible.

And of course, thank you for the 60+ members who took time out of their busy spring schedules to attend and support the event. This association is committed to providing benefits and services to you that enhance your career and profession. Please take the time to provide feedback regarding your experience - txstmainfo@yahoo.com.

CLICK IT!

Executive Directors: President: Rusty Walker, CSFM—City of Grapevine, rwalker@grapevinetexas.gov Past President: Nick McKenna, CSFM— Texas A&M University, nmckenna@athletics.tamu.edu President - Elect: Kevin Lebanik—Harrell's, Klebanik@harrells.com 1st Commercial Vice Pres: Darin Eberly—Pioneer Manuf. Co., deberly@pioneerathletics.com 2nd Commercial Vice Pres: John Kearns—Professional Turf Products, kearnsj@proturf.com Treasurer: Leo Goertz—Texas A&M University, lgoertz@athletics.tamu.edu Committee Directors: Advertising: Travis Sales—City of Mesquite, tsales@ci.mesquite.tx.us Communication Committee: Dan Bergstrom—Houston Astros, dbergstrom@astros.com Region I (DFW): Allen Reed, CSFM, FC Dallas, areed@fcdallas.net Region II (Austin/San Antonio): Michael Piñon, San Antonio ISD, michaelpinon@yahoo.com Region III (Houston): Josh Scott, Alvin ISD, jscott@alvinisd.net Membership: Brant Williams, CSFM, Dallas Baptist University, brant@dbu.edu Scholarship: Chris Pitts, Clear Creek ISD, chpitts@ccisd.net Chapter Executive: Carol Cloud, Carolcloud@txstma.org, (817) 736-0727

Texas Sports Turf Managers Association Providing education and training for safer and healthier sports turf facilities Txstma.org txstmainfo@ yahoo.com (817) 736-0727 P.O. Box 11967 College Station, TX 77842

Summer 2015 Issue

YOU DID IT! Congratulations TXSTMA members.

At the Region I Field Day, our membership roster reached 200+.

We appreciate everyone's support and participation.

But we're not stopping here. 300 Here We Come