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white mums are planted each year atthe north end of Ryan Field. Westrive to have these in full bloom forthe annual Homecoming game. Thisall combines to gain the field itsrecent nickname of 'The WrigleyField of College Football,'" saysAdkins.
Adkins reports a unique feature ofthe field conversion was lowering thefield level by 6 feet when the existingartificial turf field and running trackmaterials were removed. The fieldinstallation began in April 1997. TurfGrids were incorporated into the 16-inch sand-based soil profile. This wasplaced over the subsurface gravitydrainage system that is in a herring-bone pattern on 15-foot centers. Asideline drainage system wasinstalled to handle excess water fromthe stands. Both systems are chan-neled into the storm sewer system.
Grass berms were added on threesides of the field to soften the transitionfrom the playing field to the seatingareas. The sideline bench areas weredeveloped using a section of asphaltcovered with artificial turf. Thisextends from the 25-yard line to the 25-yard line and right up to the 6-footbor-der. Adkins notes this addition hasbeen a tremendous laborsaving device.
around them for protection. Then 15truck loads of the angular sand and88 tons of Profile were spread overthe field surface and tilled in to adepth of 6 inches. This thoroughlyincorporated the new material intothe original soil profile and TurfGrids, resulting in a soil profile forthe top 6 inches of the field of 80 per-
cent sand, 15 percent Profile and 5percent Dakota Reed Sedge Peat.This combination was retested andapproved.
"The field was then laser gradedand the 1 percent slope re-estab-lished by Van's Enterprises, Ltd. Dr.Dave Minner of Iowa State'University (see "Q&A, p. 46) served
F I V EGREAT REASONS WHYYOU SHOULD CONSIDERBULL'S EYE BermudaFOR YOUR NEXTPROJECT.
Irrigation zonesThe irrigation system has 11 zones
and the capacity to operate four ofthe zones at the same time. Zones 1through 7 are on the field, startingwith zone 1 at the end zone, zone 2 atthe 17-yard line, 3 at the 35, 4 at the50, 5 at the opposite 35, 6 at the 17,and 7 at the end zone. Zones 8 to 11are on the sidelines, with one cover-ing the perimeter goal post to the 50-yard line and one the 50-yard line tothe opposite goal on each side of thefield.
Adkins says, "Ryan Field under-went a partial renovation in 1999.Tests showed the sand particles weretoo spherical to provide the stabilityand footing we wanted to achieve.After numerous tests, we determinedthe best approach was to amend theexisting profile with a combination ofProfile soil amendment and a moreangular sand within the same USGAsize specification as the original.
"We had the old sod stripped offand removed. We flagged the irriga-tion heads and placed drain tile
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STMA • http://www.sportsturfmanager.com August 2001 11
as our consultant on this project andhe helped us locate the bluegrass sod.It was a Scott's blend of Abbey,Covington, Nottingham, and Ascotgrown on a sandy soil by Newman'sSod Farm of Iowa City. They deliv-ered and installed the sod."
Adkins coordinated the project,making the purchases, setting thetarget dates and overseeing the on-site details. Ever conscience of thetime factor, he had an installationcompletion goal of April 30. Evenwith a few weather delays the sodwas down on May 12, just a few daysbehind his projections.
Adkins adds, "Dave Minner hadrecommended we specify that the sodfertilization be restricted so the turfwouldn't be 'over-pumped' when itarrived. This gave me a hungry sodthat was very responsive to anaggressive fertilization program. Ineffect, during the grow in, I could dothe pushing to make the turf betterinstead of trying to bring a lush turfback up to that level after the shockof the sodding process. This produced
From left to right: Rich Mpffit, STMA President; Eric Adkins, CSFM, Agronomist;Randy Stoneberg, Maintenance Forman
a stronger field. The turf stood upwell to graduation on June 18 andwas responding like an establishedfield by our first football game inSeptember."
Field performance has been excel-lent following the '99 renovation
according to Adkins. He notes, "I wasworking with the softball and baseballfields during the 2001 spring footballgame, but walked the field after thegame and there was no damage andno divots. Prior to this renovation, wewere putting down 2,000 to 3,000
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August 2001 13
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While Ryan Field is painted only for games, the athletic field staffstrives to keep the turf game-ready throughout the growing sea-
son as an incentive to attract prime athletes to the university.
pounds of perennial ryegrass each year to keep turf coveron the field. In 1999 and 2000, we needed only 50 to 100pounds of our bluegrass blend between games. We alsooverseeded with it in the spring before putting our growcover down.
"The top 6 inches of the soil profile drain at between 10and 14 inches per hour. The bottom 10 inches probably drainat 3 to 4 inches per hour. That means we're holding water atthe 6-inch level where it's accessible to the turf roots. We didcomplete a drill and fill procedure down the middle of thefield this May. We drilled to a 12-inch depth and filled withProfile. This will open up deep aeration and water percola-tion channels in the most heavily used section of the field.The only addition to the field we're making in 2001 is theinstallation of new goal posts donated by a local company."
Ryan Field is just one of Northwestern University'snine natural turf fields. The two football practice fields,one baseball and one softball field, a soccer field, a fieldhockey field and two six-acre multiple use fields total 25acres of athletic turf and facilities. These are used aspractice fields, and for camps, for intramurals and forClub sports in lacrosse, rugby, cricket, soccer, softball,baseball, and football. These eight fields are always inuse from late March or early April through November orDecember, when weather permits. There's also an artifi-cial turf field hockey field and an artificial turf indoorpractice facility. The football team generally uses the
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indoor facility for one day's practicebefore playing an away game on anartificial turf field.
Ryan Field hosts six football homegames in the fall, the intra-squadfootball game the third week of Apriland graduation ceremonies in mid-June. The football team uses thepractice fields for all their practicesessions. The band does not practiceon the game field.
Adkins says, "Though play andevents on Ryan Field are limited andclosely controlled, we strive to keep itin excellent condition at all times. Theoverall turf quality provides the bestpossible playing surface for the ath-letes. The aesthetics enhance theexperience of a college footballSaturday. The stadium also is used asa major recruiting mechanism for allsports, not only football. We neverknow when that star recruit may walkinto the stadium and see the field forthe first time, so we always strive tomake a good first impression."
That involves some detailedmanipulation. For example, before
the 2001 graduation ceremonies,irrigation was limited for severaldays to dry down the field and makeit less susceptible to compaction. Apreventive fungicide applicationwas made to ward off pythium. Thefield was covered with terraplasfrom 15-yard line to 15-yard lineand to the opposite hash mark. Thestage and on-field chairs were putin place.
A busy manGraduation was completed by 8:00
p.m. By 2:00 am the next day, thestage and chairs had been removedand the field was uncovered.
The multi-field University settingwas a change for Adkins, but obvious-ly one he has handled very well.From August 1994 until September1997, he had served as AssistantGroundskeeper at Chicago's SoldierField. There was just one field tofocus on, but it served triple duty forfootball, soccer, and concerts. Beforethat he served as Assistant Directorof Golf for the Chicago Park District,
overseeing the maintenance of sixgolf courses and two driving ranges.He's a graduate of Michigan StateUniversity's 2-year TurfgrassManagement Program and achievedCertified Sports Field Manager sta-tus February 1, 2000.
With nine fields and 20 coaches'practice schedules to accommodate,there's seldom any downtime. Adkinssays, "My direct supervisor, AssistantAthletic Director of Facilities JackFreeman, really understands theneeds of the athletic field programand is very supportive of it.Maintenance Foreman RandyStoneberg, and Groundskeepers RichThorn and Joe Berube do a great job.I think they're the best. They workwith a seasonal staff of four and addsix or seven student workers duringJune, July, and August. I develop themaintenance program and do thescheduling; they handle all the mow-ing, fertilization, and spraying. It'stheir dedication to excellence thatearned Ryan Field STMA Field of theYear honors."
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Safety and liability-protecting
yourself from lawsuits
by Greg Petry
M y views on liability are frommy perspective as executivedirector of a park district
with a thorough and comprehensivesafety program. Waukegan ParkDistrict is self-insured through thePark District Risk ManagementAgency (PDRMA) pool composed ofmore than 100 Illinois park dis-tricts. This isn't liability insurancein the traditional sense, such as theauto or workman's compensationinsurance Waukegan Park Districtused to purchase through insurancecompanies. It is a comprehensiverisk management program thatfocuses on preventive measures toreduce risks and liability with aninsurance component.
Several years ago there was aliability crisis in the Chicago areafollowing a series of playground acci-dents. Park districts were looking atremoving playground equipment andlimiting programs, but that was con-trary to our mission and purpose.
A group of Illinois park districtsdetermined that we should be able tomanage this risk. And there is riskinherent in everything-sports, dri-ving a car, swimming, using play-ground equipment, etc. The districtsdetermined the best way to manageour risk and to provide these servicessafely to the public was to develop acomprehensive, monitored, andaccredited self insurance program.Through the program's comprehen-sive review process Waukegan ParkDistrict has attained (and maintains)the highest level of accreditation.
The same principles of safety andliability, and of protecting your facili-ty and yourself from lawsuits, applywhether self-insured or insuredthrough traditional channels.
Set the toneAs executive director of the park
district, my involvement in setting
the tone on safety is vital. To keep thehighest safety record and avoid law-suits, you must set the philosophyand practices you administer at thetop level and have all levels of man-agement and each individual withinthe organization "buy into it." Youhave to hire people that are right forthe organization and make sure theorganization is right for them. If eachindividual you have working in yourorganization does not totally agreewith the philosophy on safety and fol-low the safety practices, managingrisk will be a problem.
Provide the toolsPut people in a spot where they
know what is expected of them, pro-vide them with the proper orienta-tions and the right materials andequipment.
Federal, state, city, or other gov-ernmental agencies require somesafety training programs. For exam-ple, OSHA requires communicabledisease training. This is district-widetraining we offer once a year dealingwith interaction with bodily fluids,how to clean them up, where thegloves and antiseptic surface cleanerare kept, and all other pertinentdetails. Because park user groups(including athletes) come fromdiverse areas and backgrounds, areminder course on this trainingmight be repeated within a depart-ment several times during the year.
The right to know training is alsomandated. A Material Safety DataSheet (MSDS) form must be filed andcataloged in a book accessible toemployees. The organization mustreport to the state what is containedin this book. All employees must thenbe trained on how to read the sheetsand how to perform the proceduresrecommended for such action as amaterial spill.
Our all-employee fire training pro-
gram is conducted in conjunction withthe city fire department. It covers ourpolicies and procedures on what to doin case of a fire, the different types offire extinguishers, and the character-istics of different types of fires. Thefire department even sets up somefires in bins on our property and haseveryone try using the extinguishers.Each of our facilities has a map of thebuilding posted at the entrance withboth fire and tornado proceduresnoted.
Every other year we provide firstaid and CPR training for all full timeemployees so that everyone becomescertified. Sports-related and certainother part-time employees receivethis training every year.
Training specific to job responsibili-ties is conducted by each department.For mowing the turf, an individualneeds to know precisely what he orshe is to do, which equipment is to beused, and the practices and proce-dures for proper and safe operation ofthat equipment. Without this basictraining, he could not only produceunacceptable results, but also coulddo a lot of damage to himself, otherpeople, the equipment, the facility'sproperty, or other property.
Participation in each training ses-sion is documented in our generalfiles and in each individual's person-nel file. This includes a statement,signed by the employee, that he or shehas taken part in the training andunderstands it.
Inspect and documentGood communication with employ-
ees is essential to the safety and liabili-ty program. They must understandwhy it is important and they must rec-ognize hazards and potentially unsafeconditions and understand how to han-dle these situations.
In park system and athletic fieldmaintenance positions, employees
16 August 2001 sportsTURF • http://www.sportsturfonline.com
will interact with the public.Individuals will tell them things. Theemployee must listen to what theyhave to say and react accordingly. Forexample, it may be something as sim-ple as the report of a broken bottle.The employee should thank the indi-vidual for the information, thenimmediately properly dispose of thebroken bottle.
Other reports from the public mayrequire inspection and documenta-tion, with action to occur as necessaryto rectify the problem. WaukeganPark District also has developed spe-cific forms to facilitate and documentscheduled inspections. Whetherexternally reported or noticed duringa regular inspection, the employeeneeds to document that the problemhas been discovered. If possible thecondition should be corrected rightaway. If that is not possible, theemployee needs to identify the hazardand note it and close down the area toprotect the public. On a ballfield, thehazard area might be surroundedwith snow fencing and a sign posted
to warn the public to keep off becauseof "dangerous conditions."
Employees must be able to look atthe big picture as well as the smalldetails while visually inspecting asite. The softball/baseball fieldinspection form (see p. 18) serves as areminder to check all the areas noted.If, for example, a piece of fence wasbroken at one field and could not beimmediately fixed by the crew, theemployee would note it on the formand call his or her supervisor toreport it. The supervisor wouldassign someone to make the repairand document that the repair wasmade at a specific date and time, andby whom.
This all combines to form a rea-sonable, prudent, and consistentsafety program. The records willstate your case effectively duringlegal action. An individual broke hisankle while playing on one of ourballfields and filed a lawsuit charg-ing the park district with negligence.We brought in all of our inspectionrecords to show how the field was
maintained when this accidentoccurred. The judge reviewed therecords, noting that the field wasmaintained regularly, holes had beenfilled in the past, baseball mix hadbeen brought in to topdress, etc.Because our program was document-ed to be reasonable, prudent, andconsistent, he dismissed the suit.
Report and documentWe have developed both incident
and accident report forms. Copies ofthese are kept in all the offices and inall park district vehicles. The proce-dures for properly filling out theseforms have been explained to allemployees and are listed on the backof each form.
The incident report form is to beused when a situation arises thatrequires park district employeeaction or intervention, or when a sit-uation occurred and is then reportedto a park district employee. Forexample, a league may have reservedone of the park's baseball fields andbeen issued a permit for that use.
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STMA • http://www.sportsturfmanager.com August 2001 17
When they arrive at the field anunauthorized group has started agame and refuses to leave. The indi-vidual who had arranged the permitwould then have called the depart-ment, which would transfer the callto Superintendent of Parks MikeTrigg, CSFM, or they may havecalled the park police. If the unau-thorized group refused to leave evenafter being confronted by Trigg, thepark police might escort the unrulyindividualis) out of the park.
Review and rectifyWaukegan holds monthly Safety
Committee meetings at which aselected individual represents theentire staff from each department:parks, recreation, cultural arts, golf,finance, and administration. Thesemeetings are documented with min-utes. One of the standard agendaitems is to review all of our incidentsand accident claims to assure they arehandled correctly, follow throughaction has been taken, and all of theproper safety controls have beeninstituted.
All incident and accident reportforms are turned into our risk coordina-tor who compiles them and makes surethey are logged into the computer sys-tem. This report is sent to the safetycommittee, which reviews them, dis-cusses what happened, and how to rec-tify and prevent such incidents in thefuture. Any particular trend identifiedin the Safety Meetings will be noted
and specific training scheduled. Forexample, if a lot of people were gettingthings in their eyes, a training sessionon protective eye measures would bescheduled.
Each representative then has thisinformation to take back to his or herown departmental regular meetings.For example, Mike Trigg will holdParks Department meetings morefrequently than once a month toaddress such issues as equipmentoperation, field inspection proce-dures, severe weather procedures,field use policies and procedures, andpersonnel health and safety protocolsin hot or cold weather.
PDRMA does periodically sendinspectors to our site to evaluate oursafety programs. They will insurethat we are following all government-mandated practices and proceduresand will monitor our entire program.For example, they'll compare ourreports of accidents in the workplacewith our workplace safety proceduresand practices.
Maintain policiesFor our athletic fields, safety is the
prime objective. Playability comessecond. We will cancel games if fieldconditions are not safe for play.
We have prepared the guidelines forfield and facility use for those sportsprograms operated by the park district.They must follow our guidelines andare under our control. Those sportsgroups that are affiliated with the park
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Field inspection form
18 August 2001
district, but which run their own pro-grams, request the use of the fields. Wecommunicate to them what our expec-tations are for safe and proper use. Wedon't have oversight of the outsidesports organizations that rent our facil-ities, but we do require that they fillout an application so we know whichgroup is using the facility and the con-tact person responsible for the group.For a long-term rental situation, thegroup is required to have a certificateof insurance and the park district mustbe listed as an additional insured.
We also monitor employee sched-uling and job assignments to insureour people are not overextended.Tired, stressed people are more like-ly to make mistakes. There's alsothat urgency to "get in the game"especially for our long-term fielduser groups. But there are limits andwe must recognize those limits andwork within our means. Whenstaffing is limited or weather condi-tions have restricted maintenanceprocedures, we'll cancel or postponegames rather than take shortcuts onfield maintenance.
Saying no is hard. Though it mayseem easier to go along and let themplay, you're taking a risk you can'tjustify. Besides, those who urge fielduse anyway will quickly disengagethemselves if someone gets hurt.They'll say, "Youtook those shortcutsand told us it was safe to play." Thatlittle bit of stress involved in tellinggroups they can't use the fields thistime quickly shrinks into proportionwhen you consider the injury thatcould occur and the pain, suffering,worry, and time involved in a law-suit. The public might not like it, butwe must insist on safety first .
Continuous improvementDon't stop improving once you've
established a reasonable, prudent,and consistent safety program. Ifsomething is not working as well as itcould, take the steps to make it better .Be open to suggestions to improveyour safety program to make yourfacilities the best you can with theresources available to you .
Greg Petry is executive director ofthe Waukegan, IL, Park District. He'sa Past President of STMA and the1996 recipient of STMA's Harry C. GillMemorial Award.
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