Tips From The Pros

BE A PARTNER IN THE GAME

The Sports Turf Manager’s Association (STMA) has a motto: “Experts on the field, Partners in the Game”. Rightly so, we as sports field managers spend a lot of time and effort of the “Experts on the Field” part, but what do we mean by “Partners in the Game”. This means delivering a field of play that has integrity. To me this means a field that is honestly prepared to be as fair as possible to everyone involved on both teams (and all the teams in a tournament).

Beyond this, sports field managers need to know the rules of the game, as it relates to the playing surface in any way, better than any player, coach, referee or league official. They have to know all of the field-related rules of the game because referees and game officials have a lot of other moving parts to focus on and they aren’t always up to date on field rules and regulations. There are many elements to a quality playing surface experience for the athletes that are beyond the control of the sports field manager, but we can control how that field is prepared and ensure the field manager’s game day and game week management complies exactly with league rules.

Almost always, the requirements of the field of play can be found somewhere in the “Rules of the Game” written by the governing body or the league for the particular sport. For example, one would look to the NCAA for rules and regulations regarding the playing surface and surrounds for a college softball field. These rules and regulations, in their entirety, should be delivered in updated form well before the season begins to every field manager in that league, game or training field. Unfortunately, when the new rule books are distributed to the teams and clubs, they too often do not make it to the sports field manager’s desk. In some cases, you will have to actively hunt and search such documents, but do what you must to get this information. Don’t just assume you have things correct, you will eventually end up with egg on your face. On the contrary, knowing the field rules and specifications better than anybody at the venue is not only part of the professional field manager’s job, it can give you instant credibility and confidence in your work.

Field layout and markings:

First and foremost are the field markings required for the sport. These are generally lines and arcs that demark the boundaries and other critical parts of the playing surface. To be a good partner in the game, the field manager should deliver bright, straight and recently painted or chalked lines for every game or practice. Players need to see these lines with a quick side-glance, not a long search for them. Most sports also have specifications as to the width of the field lines. The better ones also tell us where on the line the field measurement is taken from. For example, on an American football field, the yard lines running across the field every five yards are measured to the center of the painted line. In other words, the middle of the painted line is the actual measure point. The goal line, however, is measured to the front edge of the painted line, not the middle of it. We’ve all heard the term “Break the plane of the line”.

Having your field layout measured and surveyed professionally for each separate sport is a relatively small investment for the importance to the game. Keep the surveying documents on file in case there are any disputes.

A story:

I remember back about 15 years ago building and starting up a new professional stadium. In painting the Major League Soccer (MLS) field, I wanted to minimize the impact on the football field that would begin games later in the summer with about 3 months of overlap between the two sports in the late summer and fall. I was especially concerned with any painting down the middle 1/3 of the field, the most heavily worn area of the football field between the hash marks and just outside of them. At issue was the soccer penalty spot. The spec (back then) read that it was to be a circular spot “10 inches in circumference”. So I painted a dot a little over 3 inches in diameter (which equates to a 10 inch circumference) when everyone else in the league was painting the traditional 10-inch diameter “dinner plate” penalty spot. Every referee made me paint a larger dot before every game. I would show them the spec, and they would just brush it off, saying it was obviously a mistake in the guidelines. I would stand my ground with great confidence until they would threaten not to start the game until we painted a larger penalty dot. This went on the whole season, I couldn’t find any clarification from the league. The next year, the rule book was changed to specify a spot 10 inches in diameter, not circumference.

Often, the sports field manager is tasked with maintaining the on-field game equipment. This includes everything from goals to team benches, foul poles to batting cages. They need to be maintained according to the specifications of the manufacturer. You don’t want to start fabricating, drilling holes in, or otherwise changing any on-field game equipment. Simply drilling a hole in a goal for something you need can weaken the structure and cause an accident. Before you change anything from the manufacturer’s design, get their written recommendations on the issue.

Painting your on-field game equipment before each season makes good sense. Use colors approved by the league or governing body (this can usually be found in the game rules document). You can usually get away with preparing to paint something like a foul pole for several years with simple sanding/re-painting, but every so often you have to sand down to original metal to prevent paint build-up and chipping. A local sand-blasting outfit can make the job easy. And while you are at it, cleaning, repairing and/or replacing any netting is also a good idea.

Clean, brightly painted on-field game equipment is a great way to really improve the look of the playing surface and also maximizes the life of your equipment investment.

Out-of-bounds areas and playing field surrounds. Being a partner in the game means providing clean safe field surrounds for the patrons. Clean trash cans, and plenty of them, are an instant sign of a well-run venue. Same with bathrooms. Any grand stands should be maintained per manufacturer’s specifications for safety and kept clean for the guests.

Turf Tips 101: Game Day Tips

A field manager is usually the most well-read person on the day’s weather at the venue on game day, or any other day. It simply affects everything the field manager does. And so the field manager often becomes the de facto meteorologist for the venue. That’s ok, but you want to be careful. Likely, you are not a trained, certified meteorologist so keep your reports to the information you have gained and let a professional make the severe weather action calls. You should, however, always look to the skies and radar and make the safety calls for your turf team. The important thing to remember is to identify the key decision makers for the game or league well before the game. You want to establish a line of communication to that person directly during the game and a pre-game meeting. All this should be rolled into an attorney-approved game/weather policy where all the roles are clearly defined. Make sure you review the policy with your turf team regularly.

Another story:

Many years ago during spring conditioning drills, some of the players were running forty-yard dashes. They were moaning something about how they thought the field was measured wrong and it was actually more than forty yards. They insisted it was off because they had ran so many 40’s in their careers that they could just tell. Knowing my measurements were spot on, I shrugged them off as I worked. “It’s exactly forty yards, not a half inch off” I said with confidence. So after some friendly banter back and forth, they nagged me into going into the shop and getting a tape measure. By now there were two factions of players, those loudly saying I was full of it and those who believed me. Even coach Shanahan came out on his office balcony to see what was going on. I stuck one end of the tape measure on the front edge of the goal line and walked it out, knowing I was going to be branded an idiot or a hero by the players and head coach based on how it came out. I pulled the tape tight at the forty yard line and gave it a few waves to straighten it out. Boom! It was exactly 120 feet to the middle of the 40 yard line, on the button! From then on, this young turf manager was given some respect in the locker room.

On game day, they field team often has opportunities to be heroes, if they make a few simple preparations. Always keep plenty of an appropriate drying agent on hand for rain games. This is usually something like the ceramic baked clays, kind of a high stability kitty litter. Keep some soil or sand on hand as well, you never know when you have a chance to save the game with a quick field repair from a half-time show, for example. For snow games, keep some orange spray paint in stock to paint critical lines and markings in the snow. Know where your water turn-off valves are so you can quickly handle a main-line irrigation pipe break and prevent a game-ending flood on the playing surface. Better yet, lock it out in the off position for games, if you can.

If you can, be out on the field during pre-game warmups. Without disturbing them, get a feel for how the players are evaluating the performance of the surface. Try to get input from players after the game as well.

Resources of the Month

The STMA has a good set of pre-game field checklists available on its website:

Football/Soccer Field Safety and Maintenance Checklist.

Baseball/Softball Field Safety and Maintenance Checklist

Lightning Safety at Your Sports Facility

End Quote

“UT Ground Crew – Thank you for all your hard work with the SECSB tourney! Here’s lunch on me. Roll Vols.” - Alabama coach Patrick Murphy’s hand-written note, delivered with lunch to the Tennessee grounds crew during the SEC softball tournament.