Josh Glover, park maintenance manager for Wake Forest, North Carolina, shares some of the unique privileges and challenges of working for public parks and recreation. He also elaborates on the ways that data from a Spiio soil moisture sensor can help facilitate communication about sports turf safety for high school athletes.

After graduating with a degree in turfgrass management from North Carolina State University and spending some time on grounds crews for the Carolina Panthers and the Baltimore Orioles, Josh Glover went to work for the town of Cary, North Carolina. He worked on the USA Baseball Complex there for seven years until he came to the town of Wake Forest in 2015 as the park maintenance manager. 

Parks and Rec: Parks Don’t Take Days Off

Leaving popular sitcoms aside, what’s it really like to work with public parks and recreation? Glover shares one perk:

“We get to do lots of different things. One minute we’re preparing to support an event, the next minute we’re working on a sports field somewhere, and next we’re working on a greenway.”

Wake Forest manages “561 acres of parks, open space, natural land and trails.” Glover enjoys the variety and having a wide range of responsibilities.

Unlike most places, March and April last year were a particularly busy time for public parks and recreation. There was a significant increase in people wanting to use park space—some of the only space left available. Meanwhile, some athletic leagues closed down, giving maintenance teams a chance to work on needed projects. Of course, Glover points out, whether it was a particularly empty field or a particularly full park, “on a maintenance end, everything still had to happen.”

The pandemic exacerbated a unique challenge that is always present for the industry—parks are open dawn to dusk, and they are never locked. That means there’s always something going on (and there’s always the potential for issues to arise). Glover has to have staff on site every day to ensure playability safety.

Spiio as a Communication Tool

With such a demand for people on site, Glover has recognized the value of a technology that can relieve the need for physical eyes as far as sports turf is concerned. In December of last year, he installed four Spiio soil moisture sensors on the field at Heritage High School. Understandably, a high school field has many stakeholders—in addition to those responsible for maintaining the field, there are coaches, school administrators, athletes, and parents. In addition, Wake Forest partners with a soccer organization that also uses those fields.

“One of the main reasons we wanted to give this a shot,” he says, “was so we could know—and they could know—how wet the field is at any given time. We’re still trying to establish the baseline for what’s okay and what’s too wet to play. That’s what we’re working toward.”

Josh Glover, Park Maintenance manager for Wake Forest, NC.

A wet field is a critical concern for player safety. Spiio data provides a useful communication tool so that all parties can know field conditions at any given time. Anyone interested can download the app and see those conditions for themselves, rather than having to send someone out to check.

So far, Glover’s team at Wake Forest has had a good experience. “We anticipate using the Spiio in other facets in the summer,” Glover reports. “For now, we’re in the evaluation phase. I think it will be what we’re hoping it will be. I feel like it’s pulling the data I’m hoping to see.”

Contact Spiio to learn more about how to get started.

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Movie Nights, Dance Recitals, Tournaments, and Minor League Baseball

Mike Kerns, Director of Grounds for the Trenton Thunder, has had to be creative and flexible to navigate an intense and uncertain year. Spiio sensors help him make smart irrigation and fungicide decisions that keep his field ready for whatever is coming next. 

Mike Kerns is the Director of Grounds for the Trenton Thunder Baseball Club, an AA affiliate of the New York Yankees founded in 1980 and located in Trenton, New Jersey. As with many in the turfgrass industry, Mike Kerns’ career began with a summer job. He worked with Llanerch Country Club for several summers and enjoyed the work so much that when an assistant mentioned to him, “You know, you can go to school for this,” he snapped up the opportunity. He studied Turfgrass Management at Rutgers University, graduating in 2009. In 2011 Kerns moved from the country club to help manage the turf for a private school called The Episcopal Academy. Then in 2013, he joined the game day grounds crew for the Philadelphia Phillies, and he moved later that year to be the assistant groundskeeper for the Trenton Thunder. After the 2017 season, Kerns moved on to Manager of Grounds of the Philadelphia Phillies Urban Youth Academy before returning to the Trenton Thunder in November of 2019. 

Coronavirus, Creativity, and a Cancelled Season

Not surprisingly, the 2020 season has introduced unprecedented challenges for Kerns and the Thunder. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the minor league baseball season for the year was cancelled. Kerns and the rest of the Thunder front office staff have had to be creative to use their space in a way that could return some revenue. Events hosted at Arm and Hammer Park this summer have included baseball showcases, graduation ceremonies, recitals, a movie night, and the Last Dance Tournament (in which 225 high schools have participated). These events have not only supported the park and the team financially, but they have also helped other events to move safely outdoors. They’ve shown how much the Thunder is a part of its community.

“There is definitely no book written for this, but we’re doing our best.”

Mike Kerns

However, Kerns notes that it’s been a strange and difficult shift in many ways. He’s thankful for a good management team that has generally focused its attention on baseball; unfortunately, that means that having to figure out how to prepare the field for a stage is not something that usually falls in the job description. That’s just one example of the kinds of considerations he’s had to make to adapt the field to a very different kind of season. “There is definitely no book written for this,” he says of the situation, “but we’re doing our best.”

How Spiio Sensors Inform Irrigation and Chemical Application

Kerns has five Spiio sensors installed in his field. He primarily values them for the peace of mind they offer. “I can pull it up and see where we’re at in real time,” he says. Especially this season, when so much more work has been moved offsite, the ability to access information about the field has been greatly appreciated. “I can know I’m doing everything in my power,” says Kerns.

“I can pull it up and see where we’re at in real time.”

Mike Kerns

For example, Kerns pointed out that it can sometimes be difficult to judge when to water. He doesn’t have the luxury of watering whenever it’s convenient or best for the field—with practices starting from 1:30 on and games in the evening during a typical baseball season he needs to water overnight and count on it being enough to last through the day. Additionally, there’s a fine balance between not watering enough and watering too much; the combination of heat and humidity can promote disease, so overwatering is more of a threat than it might initially seem. The Spiio’s help Kerns make decisions about irrigation that are based directly on data about what the turf needs, rather than having to rely on guesswork or timetables.

Similarly, Kerns has found that Spiios allow him to time temperature-sensitive fungicides for his turf. Before, the decision to put out fungicides was automatic when June and July hit. Now, Kerns can use the temperature data from the Spiio to know when it’s actually hot enough in the soil to need those chemicals. As a result, he’s found that he can sometimes apply them later and less often.

“Is That Real?”

The Thunder are already preparing for their next season, with ticket sales going for off-season games beginning in October. “Everything in minor league baseball is about next year,” says Kerns. “You can’t plan for not having a season because you’ll be behind the 8-ball.” So, he and the team are acting in faith that they’ll have a season, and that it’ll be a good one. 

“Everything in minor league baseball is about next year,” says Kerns. “You can’t plan for not having a season because you’ll be behind the 8-ball.”

Mike Kerns

When asked about what makes his job challenging, Kerns acknowledges that every day in minor league baseball is a show. It’s not always necessarily about what’s happening on the field—there’s an entertainment aspect to consider. Then there’s the weather, and Kerns has had to accept that Mother Nature will do whatever she wants to do. That said, Kerns finds his work highly rewarding as well. “There’s nothing like being here alone mowing on a Saturday morning,” he says, “and someone passing by asking, ‘is that real?’” Being up close and personal with the turf—including its imperfections—Kerns sometimes has to create a little distance and take a look at the field from the stands to see the magic that everyone else sees. By delivering data that helps him make precise choices about irrigation, chemical applications, and other turf care, Spiio sensors help Kerns and the Trenton Thunder create that magic. 

There’s nothing like being here alone mowing on a Saturday morning,” he says, “and someone passing by asking, ‘is that real?’”

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In 1978, 16-year-old Kent Harris took up a summer job with someone who installed residential sprinkler systems. Many boys his age looked to landscaping for extra cash during the summer—but for most, the job ended there.

Turfgrass water management is central to turf health – particularly root growth and disease prevention.

For Kent, on the other hand, the job kickstarted a lifetime career in landscape and irrigation. He stayed with the company that gave him that first summer job for seven years. He then moved to a bigger company, where he worked for eight years before starting an irrigation division for a local landscape contractor. Also an aquarium hobbyist, he describes himself as “surrounded by water.”

The Bigger Picture: Irrigation as Part of Turfgrass Management

After 24 years of hands-on experience in the industry, Kent’s career shifted toward the business side of things. He became a business developer for a large-scale company in Minneapolis, and eventually moved to the Minnesota Sodding Company, where he currently works as a manager.

MSC is a commercial sod and seed contractor with a focus on sports turf and sports turf irrigation/maintenance. Naturally, there is a lot that goes into managing turf. Not only does it affect the visual appeal of a sports field, but a healthy turf is important for the health and safety of the athletes who play on it. In all these elements, turfgrass water management is central to turf health—particularly root growth and disease prevention.

Healthy turf is important for the health and safety of the athletes who play on it.

Spiio gives experts like Kent the freedom to experiment—to run a sports field down to 3% moisture and find its threshold.

Turf and Timing

One of the things Kent loves about MSC is the energy there. In the time he has been there, he has seen that energy enable the company to take on new challenges and expand its reach. For example, when he first started, Kent noticed that MSC didn’t have much to offer in the way of water management — except, of course, for him and his expertise. He didn’t think much of it, then, when he ran into Chris Thorup’s booth at the 2019 STMA conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Chris introduced him to the Spiio product, a smart turf sensor that alerts landscapers and other interested parties to real-time data about soil moisture to inform their irrigation decisions.

Later, however, Minnesota Sodding Company took on a new project—they contracted to care for a sand-based high school soccer field, including irrigation. They soon saw the water management side of the business blossom, and now manage multiple schools and a Lifetime Sports soccer venue – a former NFL practice field. This brought sports turf irrigation to the forefront of Kent’s mind, and when Spiio followed up with him, he was ready to give it a try. Chris flew out from California to meet Kent and help install six trial turf sensors. MSC now uses the Spiio sensor regularly to aid their turfgrass water management efforts.

Always Learning: New Questions and Possibilities for Sports Fields

The Spiio, says Kent, offers “a whole new way of doing things.” Turfgrass water management used to either be solely visually oriented or extremely time consuming. With current and relevant data about turf moisture being sent directly to Kent’s phone, however, he can efficiently and effectively make water management decisions.

With current data about turf moisture being sent directly to Kent’s phone he can efficiently make water management decisions.

He also notes the importance of that aspect of the process—making decisions. Unlike some other products, the Spiio does not automate irrigation based on its data as a default. Rather, it sends the information to stakeholders who can make their own water management decisions about what to do with the information given. This gives experts like Kent the freedom to experiment—to run a sports field down to 3% moisture and find its threshold, for example. The most obvious benefit of such conservation is environmental. Kent notes, however, “I’m especially interested in the financial side of things”—both for his company and for their customers. There’s a huge financial advantage to this kind of experimentation. “With the money we save on water, we can reallocate turf budget dollars to fertilization and other important things for the health of the sports turf.”

Kent acknowledges that, when it comes to the Spiio and even in irrigation in general, he is “always learning.” For example, he wonders, what is the optimal number of sensors to install in a sports field? One corner of turf can have a drastically different soil composition and environmental situation than another, and so one turf sensor may not be enough to give him a full picture of the health of the sports field. On the other hand, having too many sensors is costly and inefficient. Kent is working to find the balance. By being willing to ask questions, try new things, and constantly seek to improve, Kent and the Minnesota Sodding Company stay at the forefront of their field. MSC, says Kent, works hard to build confidence and trust with customers as they communicate the data they gather from the Spiio to make decisions about sports turf irrigation. A commonly quoted adage at MSC is, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” The Spiio helps Kent create a complete turfgrass water management service. His expertise and experience in irrigation and in business give quality and efficiency to that service. But the human element is perhaps one of his greatest keys to success.

“No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” – Kent Harris, Minnesota Sodding Company

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