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North Rockland High’s new synthetic field receives extra heavy duty turf protection Located in Thiells, New York, North Rockland High School provides co-educational studies to students in grade 9 to 12 from the northern Rockland County. In 2024, the school celebrated the opening of new, state-of-the-art, athletic facilities for their Red Raiders sports teams including advanced synthetic turf fields. When it was decided to have graduation ceremonies on the main field, COVERMASTER® was contacted for temporary outdoor flooring.
The Columbia University Master of Science in the Sustainability Management and Sports Management programs began the first semester of the Sustainability in Sports: Theory and Practice course in the fall of 2024. This is the first course in the School of Professional Studies in which students from several graduate programs (Sports Management, Sustainability Management, and the Climate School) could take a course together. The course has been a hit, and my co-lecturer (Shaun Hoyte), Course Associate (Alexandra Bagnasco), and I have received numerous positive comments about the course.
Belgian football club benefits from COVERMASTER® frost covers for football pitches. Bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and France, Belgium has a population of nearly 12-million in an area of close to 12-million square miles. Like many European countries, football is a popular sport and one such Belgian Pro League football club, K.R.C. Genk FC, is a big fan of COVERMASTER®. The 5-time Belgian League and 5-time Belgian Cup champion depends on COVERMASTER® sports ground frost covers to protect its turf pitches.
Multimedia giant bets on COVERMASTER® gym floor carpet tiles and wins big. When the new Chicago office of Barstool Sports contacted COVERMASTER® about gym floor tiles, you would likely wonder what gymnasium in the Windy City they were talking about. As a U.S.-based multimedia sports and entertainment company with its headquarters in New York City, Barstool Sports publishes sports journalism and pop culture-related content. Promoted as a “fun factory”, the gymnasium in question is part of the new Chicago office design.
New training facility protects its practice fields with COVERMASTER® growth blankets. For upwards of 25 years, the Chicago Fire Football Club, a U.S. professional soccer club that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS), has been coming to COVERMASTER® for help, protecting and improving its turf. Named after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that devastated over three-square miles of the city, the Fire plays out of Soldier Field in the near South Side of Chicago.
COVERMASTER® spot covers will protect and promote with custom branding. California State University at Northridge (CSUN) is located in northern Los Angeles. In addition to its nine colleges that range from Science & Mathematics to Engineering & Computer Science, CSU has 19 sports teams in NCAA Division I, including baseball and softball. Matador Field is home to Cal State Northridge baseball, while softball is played at nearby Matador Diamond.
Ross Kurcab is a Certified Sports Field Manager (CSFM) and a professional sports field consultant with 30 years’ experience as a head turf manager in professional football. He graduated from Colorado State University’s Turfgrass Management program and now operates and owns Championship Sports Turf Systems.
Madrid, Spain - EVERGREEN® RADIANT TURF COVERS provide a winning solution for world class football team. Founded in 1902, the success of Spain’s Real Madrid Club de Fútbol is legendary with 36 titles in La Liga, the top men's professional football division in the Spanish football league system.
Ontario, Canada - Small town gym floor cover request receives big time sports facility protection and service. Huntsville, Tennessee is a town of 1,270 people located about 150 miles east of Nashville and 55 miles north of Knoxville. Like many rural towns in the United States, school gymnasiums are often one of the larger venues that can accommodate community events and activities.
Lincoln, NE - Lincoln teams up again with COVERMASTER® for the ultimate in baseball field covers. For upwards of 15 years, the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball have been a customer of COVERMASTER® for all of their sports surface protection needs.
La Cañada Flintridge, CA - Outdoor arena footings protected from rain and ready for use when riding arena covers removed. Back in 2017, Flintridge Riding Club, in La Cañada Flintridge, Los Angeles County, California purchased an equestrian arena cover from COVERMASTER® for their large main arena.
I am honored that COVERMASTER® has asked me to contribute to the “Tips From The Pros” section as part of their E-newsletter. I have known and worked with COVERMASTER® for years but have gotten to know them more over the last 27 years as Head Groundskeeper for the Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ballpark/Chase Field. COVERMASTER® was one of the original sponsors, along with Toro and Profile Products/Turface, and they continue to be an annual sponsor of the MLB Groundskeeper’s Meetings/Symposiums, that started after my first year with the Dbacks in 1998.
New IceMate™ ice arena floor covering makes multi-purpose event conversion a breeze. Tupelo, Mississippi is known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley. It’s also known for the 10,000-seat Cadence Bank Arena, the largest, multi-purpose arena in Mississippi. From public skating to monster truck shows, basketball tournaments, rodeos, and major music artist tours, the arena prides itself on being able to switch from an ice surface event to a dry floor event. When it was time to replace their arena floor covering, they contacted COVERMASTER®.
San Diego FC practice fields get star treatment with EvergreenTM turf growth blankets! When Mike Kerns, groundskeeper for Major League Soccer’s new expansion team, San Diego Football Club needed turf growth blankets, he came directly to COVERMASTER®. He had firsthand experience with EVERGREEN® RADIANT TURF COVERS, with its specialized silver coating, designed to provide earlier green ups, delay dormancy, increase the turf’s growing season, and produce thicker grass with better color. The blanket’s specialized silver coating radiates additional heat back to the soil with up to 25% more heat retention.
'Rip City’ gets basketball floor protection for their training facility. Based out of Portland, Oregon, the Trail Blazers are currently the only National Basketball Association (NBA) team in the Pacific Northwest and compete in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. While they play out of the Moda Center (a multipurpose arena that hosts everything from basketball to ice hockey, concerts, and conventions), their training facility is located 20 minutes away in Metro Oregon, off Highway 5, near the Tualatin River.
COVERMASTER® custom arena seat covers help concentrate attendance areas where needed. A proven way to control seating in your gymnasium, stadium, or in this case, your hockey arena is to strategically use seat covers in specific areas and concentrate fans into the remaining seats. The Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus, Ohio wanted to do just that for Schottenstein Center, home of the Buckeyes men’s and women’s ice hockey and basketball teams. It’s a multipurpose center that also features major entertainment tours throughout the year.
Bill Squires served 12 years as a naval aviator in the United States Navy. In 1987, he entered the sports facilities and events management business and has held top-level positions with Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium, Huntington Bank Stadium, and ESPN Wide World of Sports. Bill has a consulting business that focuses on sports venues and events. He is a member of the Sports League Sports Council, which works with the Department of Homeland Security on security issues involving the safety and security of sports and entertainment venues. Bill is an adjunct professor at Columbia University and has taught the Sports Facilities and Events Management course in the School of Professional Studies (graduate program) since 2007. He began teaching a new course, Sustainability in Sports: Theory and Practice, in 2024.
Baton Rouge, LA - Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana features an 1800-seat performing arts center, a 200,000 square foot Grand Ballroom and Exhibition Hall, and a 10,000 seat arena. COVERMASTER® was called in by the arena to provide a better solution to covering the ice surface for concerts, trade shows, sporting events, and theatre events. When not used for home games with the Baton Rouge Zydeco hockey team of the Federal Prospects Minor Hockey League, the arena hosts a variety of non-ice events from comedy acts to concerts and more.
Houston, TX - When National Football League’s (NFL) Houston Texans needed turf covers for its practice field, they went straight to the world leader in sports surface protection - COVERMASTER®. Professional groundskeepers know the importance of not just covering a playing field with a tarp. They want something that will not only shield the natural turf from adverse growing conditions, but will also encourage growth, promote deep root development, allow the turf to breathe and retain more natural heat and moisture.
Jackson, TN - Jackson State Community College is located in Jackson, Tennessee about 70 miles east of Memphis. The community public college offers associate degrees in the arts, science, and applied science with branch campuses in Lexington, Savannah, and Trenton. Back in the day, Jackson was a hub for cotton sales and attracted several railroads after the Civil War. Today, it has a population of just over 60,000 people and has evolved into other areas of businesses.