Groundskeeper Chats

BJ Thomas joined the Women in Turf Team at the Little League Softball World Series this past summer after getting connected with SFMA President, Sun Roesslein. The pair joined us to talk about the importance of finding a community within the industry and how The Women in Turf Team has impacted their careers.

At the SFMA Conference, Lynn Family Stadium's Field Maintenance Manager, Aaron Fink sat down for an episode with Meg and Chris. Aaron is a proud protégé of the Nielsen Mafia and is creating a championship crew of his own. Fink got his start working for Tom Nielsen at Slugger Field with the Louisville Bats. Then followed in Nielsen's footsteps to soccer at Lynn Family Stadium. Fink oversees field operations for Louisville City FC, Racing Louisville FC and Louisville City FC Academy.

• The importance of networking and creating a community

We invited Ryan Bjorn back to our Groundskeeper Chat series during the SFMA conference in Daytona Beach. Bjorn recapped his SFMA session "The Future of Sports Turf". Meg, Weston and Chris caught up with Bjorn and asked him how manages the changes within his own organization and the industry as a whole.

Andy Ommen's, CSFM, origin story starts with a bad hop during a little league game when he was coaching his son's team. Years later, Ommen went from passionate parent to a Certified Sports Field Manger to SFMA's Field of the Year Winner to part-owner of Professional Outdoor Solutions. Andy joined us in Daytona Beach to talk about the building blocks of a brand and business.

Ben Jackson is the Director of Grounds of the Columbus Crew soccer team. Ben grew up outside of Columbus loving the crew and soccer long before it was cool. A high school assignment introduced him to turf and Darian Daily who took him under his wing and hired him on as a part-time crew member while still in high school. Ben went on to work for Matt Williams, complete his turf degree through The Ohio State University and today leads  the crew that gave him his first home in the industry. With one of the coolest turf origin stories in our industry, Ben's episode is filled with Ohio roots and a love for the game.

• DeMay's Turf Origin Story 

Meg Kruger, joined by co-host Chris Bell, was thrilled to invite 2024 Pioneers in the Field class member Larry DiVito to our Groundskeeper Chat series. The trio recap the highlights of DiVito's origin story and his long-time career in Major League Baseball. DiVito shares his passion for groundskeepers finding the spotlight and helping this industry grow. DiVito is the Head Groundskeeper for the Minnesota Twins. 

Everyone's favorite vendor, Bulldog Field Equipment, joined us at the booth during the SFMA conference to give us an exclusive sneak peek into their latest project, turf toys! Listen along for your chance to be first in line for the toys we can't wait to get our hands on! Sign up to be an early advocate here: https://www.bulldogfieldequipment.com/toys

Andy Hebrard, owner and operator of Athletic Applications joined Meg, Weston and Chris in Daytona Beach to talk about the building blocks of branding and running your own turf business. Andy was born and bred into the turf industry and follows in the footsteps of his father, Mike Hebrard. Today, Athletic Applications provides top-notch football, soccer, baseball and painting services to the PDX, LAX, PHX, LAS areas.