top ten two

Q&A with Dr. Grady Miller: Recovery

May 9, 2024

Q: Our city wants to host more multiple-day travel tournaments on top of our heavy weekday schedules. Do you have any tips to improve recovery so we can sustain this additional wear and keep our field standards high? A: Too...

Gillette Stadium installs new FieldTurf Core

April 26, 2024

Gillette Stadium, home to the NFL’s New England Patriots and the MLS’s New England Revolution, recently completed the installation of a new FieldTurf Core system with multi-layer dual-polymer monofilament fiber. Gillette Stadium first installed a FieldTurf surface during the 2006...

Crafting an Effective RFP for Sports Field Projects

March 8, 2024

By Mary Helen Sprecher Crafting a request for proposal (RFP) when it comes to having work done on your field can set the stage for success throughout the project. That’s why it is essential to put in the work in...

SFMA Mowing Patterns Contest Winning Design

February 27, 2024

The Sports Field Management Association (SFMA) announced the winner of the 2023 SFMA Mowing Patterns Contest. The winning design was submitted by Dakota Steele, district groundskeeper at Fairfield Community Schools in Goshen, Indiana. The winning “V pattern” was created for...

The History and Best Practices for Infield Topdressings

January 2, 2024

By Luke Yoder and Paul Zwaska Back in the 1960s, groundskeepers began incorporating different products into their infield skins to try to improve playability. These products were initially produced for the golf and automotive industries, and consisted of diatomaceous earth,...

SFMA announces 2023 Field of the Year winners

December 12, 2023

Eleven SFMA members were awarded Field of the Year honors for 2023. The SFMA Awards Committee, led by Jason DeMink, CSFM, and Jeremy Driscoll, CSFM, reviewed each submission and independently rated applicants on field quality as impacted by staffing, budget,...

New infill and cleat depth tester from Turf-Tec

November 7, 2023

From Turf-Tec International, the new Mascaro Infill and Cleat Depth Tester is designed as a testing instrument that will measure infill depth on synthetic turf, as well as cleat depth penetration on synthetic turf and natural grass or any other...

Are Your Fields Ready for Winter?

October 10, 2023

By Mary Helen Sprecher Students have returned to school, leaves are falling and, depending on where you are, homecoming might be in the rear-view mirror – all of which means, if you work in a four-season climate, you’ll have to...

Purdue turf professor weighs differences between natural and synthetic turf

September 28, 2023

As a debate arises in the NFL and other professional sports over the benefits of choosing natural or synthetic turf for athletic fields, Cale Bigelow, professor of horticulture and landscape architecture in Purdue University’s College of Agriculture, suggests that both...

LLSWS to feature all-female grounds crew

August 1, 2023

SFMA announced that a number of its members will be part of an all-female volunteer grounds crew in charge of the 8-day long Little League Softball World Series, including the championship game, which will be aired on ABC on August...