Local school systems often lack funding for many areas of education.  Sports field maintenance is important for athlete safety but also the aesthetics of sports fields play an important role with community pride.

In 2016, the Henderson County School System contacted the Horticulture agent requesting help with developing a long-term maintenance plan for the sports fields at the high school. With limited budget and limited experience, the maintenance manager struggled to keep the fields in acceptable condition.  

Working with the maintenance manager and his assistant over the past two years, we were able to identify priorities, develop an annual fertility plan, weed control plan, and budget to support best practices.  

Just as important, the Extension Agent spent over 22 hours of in-field training to ensure maintenance personnel were able to calibrate the sprayer and fertilizer spreader correctly, read a pesticide label and calculate application rates, properly identify common turf diseases, and numerous other typical activities associated with sports field maintenance.

Late last year, while developing their budget for 2019, the maintenance director informed me that although their budget had increased slightly, the field conditions had increased dramatically improving aesthetics and player safety.  Scott, the maintenance manager added that he and his assistant were much more comfortable with handling and applying pesticides than they have ever been. Most recently, the Superintendent of Henderson County School System made a point to complement Extension and their help with the sports field.