By John Kmitta
Maintaining sports fields at the University of Kentucky (UK) started early for Rising Star Award Winner Marcus Elswick – very early. When Elswick was only 11, his older brother was already working as a sports turf student for Donnie Mefford at the University of Kentucky. Elswick, who grew up an hour from UK, would visit his brother on weekends, and would hang out with his brother and help with the soccer and softball fields.
After high school, Elswick was hired by Marcus Dean, CSFM, to work as a sports turf student at UK – a role which he held for three years.
“I put in a lot of hours, and a lot of hard work with Marcus, and then he offered me a full-time job,” said Elswick. “I worked with Marcus full-time for three years, moved around a little bit, helped at soccer and softball, went to baseball, then back to soccer and softball.”
During that time, Dean left to pursue a sales position and was replaced by Sam Cahill, who left three years later to take a job as a golf course superintendent. Elswick applied for the open position, and has been the head sports turf manager at University of Kentucky Athletics since.
“I was a huge UK fan growing up, so coming here and making it my own has been really fun,” said Elswick. “I love being able to work with my hands and being outside every day. There’s always something new and challenging.”
Elswick added that he enjoys being part of the UK team, and being in the transition zone.
“Our softball field is 365ss bluegrass with a little bit of artificial turf around the outside,” he said. “Game soccer is Ironcutter bermudagrass and practice soccer is NorthBridge bermudagrass. Baseball is synthetic turf with dirt mounds. Practice football has 4 acres that are Latitude 36 and NorthBridge, and we have an indoor facility that’s synthetic turf. Our stadium field is synthetic turf, and our track and field complex is Ironcutter.”
According to Elswick, a typical day begins with a 7:30 a.m. meeting with his crew, which includes four other full-time staff beside him (one for football, one for baseball, one for soccer/softball and one who floats around where needed). The full-time staff is supplemented by 12 to 15 students who arrive after 8 a.m.
“We plan out their schedule, and what we’re going to do for that day,” said Elswick. “After the morning meeting, the full-time staff will go out with students, get their tasks done, then we’ll have lunch, we’ll talk again about what we need to accomplish in the afternoon, get that accomplished, and then it’s time to go home.”
Elswick spends his days checking every field and facility, as well as the 45-plus acres of common areas and campus landscape for which he is responsible. A big part of his role is managing expectations, managing staff and balancing when to scale back or push harder.
“When dealing with students and being a mentor, you try to lead by example,” he added. “I pride myself on teaching students how to do stuff in this field. I tell them to lock in on the details and make sure that we’re doing a good job, because our number-one goal is player safety. Following directions, showing up on time, and communicating will translate to any job or career.”
Elswick also takes pride in putting a plan in place, seeing the plan executed and then seeing the results.
“I’m proud of going from starting as a student worker, and being at the very bottom to working my way to being the head guy here at UK in about 10 years,” he said. “I’m very fortunate, but I’ve put in a lot of hours and a lot of work. But I’m still growing. I still have so much more to learn. I learn stuff from my students every day. There’s always a chance to soak in whatever other people are telling you.”
Elswick credits several people with guiding him thus far – most notably his father, who passed away six months after Elswick landed the position as head sports turf manager at UK.
“My dad is a big reason I do what I do,” said Elswick. “He worked in a factory his whole life, but he had a green thumb for landscaping and turning nothing into something beautiful. He was hard working, and would give you the shirt off his back. I would like to think a lot of who I am comes from him.”
Others who impacted Elswick’s career journey include Marcus Dean, who, Elswick says, took a chance on him not once, but twice, and pushed him to be better and do more; Josh Barnes, who was the best teacher and let Elswick embrace his creative side; Tommy Davis, Dave Thomas and Chuck Stivers, who were full of wisdom and taught Elswick many important life lessons; and Eric Haub who “took a student with no interest and showed him how to take pride in everything and go the extra step, work hand in hand with everything and don’t be above any job.”
Elswick has worked hard to get where he is professionally, but he also works hard to maintain work-life balance.
“My wife is awesome, and we have a 16-month-old baby girl – they are my world,” he said. “Once I get home, it’s playtime.”
In addition to enjoying life with his wife and daughter, Elswick plays basketball and likes just hanging out and spending time with his brother and friends.”
He also stays busy outside of work through industry volunteerism, which currently includes helping to restart the Kentucky chapter of SFMA.
“We are trying to get the recognition that there are jobs and careers in this state for people who don’t want to work in an office or who want to work outside and be around sports,” he said. “There are a lot of people who don’t know that this is a profession or that there is a science and a process behind it. The biggest challenge is trying to get people to learn what we do, and why we do it.”
As for being recognized by his peers with a Rising Star Award, Elswick said it means a lot to him.
“I feel like I’m far away from being my best self,” he said. “It’s very much appreciated.”
What their nominator had to say:
Marcus embodies the qualities celebrated by SportsField Management magazine’s Rising Star Awards. Year after year, he has advanced the Kentucky sports turf program – not just from a playability standard, but also by inspiring many student workers and assistants turf managers. He consistently demonstrates leadership and innovation in maintaining top-tier athletic fields. He shares his knowledge at industry conferences, fosters a strong crew culture, and mentors emerging professionals. His dedication to both the craft and community exemplifies the spirit of a rising star.
Editor’s Note: SportsFieldManagementOnline.com will profile each of this year’s Rising Star Award winners online so that each winner is highlighted in our featured spot on the site. You can also read about all of this year’s winners in the October issue of SportsField Management.
Special thanks to STEC Equipment for sponsoring the Rising Star Awards.
