When the home field at St. Edward High School in Elgin, Illinois was ruined because workers from a firm hired to maintain the field sprayed weed killer on the grass instead of fertilizer there were no doubt serious consequences for a good number of responsible individuals.
Through the unpleasant ordeal one individual appears to have kept his cool, at least when he spoke to the media. The school’s athletic director, P. J. White.
White was quoted by the Chicago Tribune as saying, “It was an honest mistake made in the mixing of chemicals for the field and they [the contractor] feel terrible about it. Someone grabbed the wrong bottle when they were mixing the chemicals.”
White reportedly went on to say, “If there’s any kind of blessing, or anything like that, it’s that we have needed resurfacing of the playing field for a time. After this season it would be an ideal time to look at that.”
It would appear there was a “blessing” associated with this unfortunate incident and it came by means of the folks at Scotts Miracle-Gro.
The Chicago Tribune reports that as part of the Scotts Miracle-Gro #KeepItReal campaign, which is dedicated to repairing athletic fields across the country, Scotts donated the products and services to install a new athletic-grade sod field at the school. The project was completed Oct. 3 and saved the school $200,000, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Tribune quotes Josh Peoples, vice president and general manager of Scotts as stating, “Given the unfortunate situation at St. Edward High School, restoring their football field was a natural fit for us. The surface these athletes play on is just as important as how they play the game – we wanted to do the right thing for this team.”
“The grass was always greener on the other side this past month but we’re fortunate to have new sod and play our last football game on Senior Night at home,” said White. “We are thankful to the generosity of Scotts and are excited to be back on our home field.”
“Our only goal was to make sure the team could end this season on a high note at home,” said Peoples. He added, “This field refurbishment is just another extension of our desire to see all athletes from youth sports to professional be given the opportunity to play on real natural grass.”
A tip of the hat to the folks at Scotts Miracle-Gro.-by Jim Novak, Turfgrass Producers International
- See more at: http://globenewswire.com/news- release/2015/10/23/779624/0/en/Scotts-R-and-Former- Professional-Football-Star-Brian-Urlacher-Welcome-St- Edward-High-School-Football-Team-Back-Home-to- Newly-Refurbished-Field.html#sthash.Ngn4j76N.dpuf