MTC, ABAC & TA Turf Grass Students Tour FSU Playing Fields
 |
|---|
Pictured with the "Unconquered" statue of Coach Bobby Bowden which sits on Williams Plaza at Langford Green just south of Bobby Bowden Field at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on the Florida State University campus, turf grass students from ABAC and Moultrie Technical College’s Environmental Horticulture (EHO) dual enrollment program at Tiftarea Academy learned how the turf fields at FSU are maintained. |
TIFTON, GA. Twenty turf grass students from ABAC and Moultrie Technical College’s Environmental Horticulture (EHO) dual enrollment program at Tiftarea Academy traveled to Florida State University on April 5, 2007 for a glimpse of how the turf fields at FSU are maintained.
Brian Donaway, an ABAC alumnus, is the athletic field supervisor for FSU. Students, guided by Donaway, toured through the FSU locker rooms, trophy rooms, sports management clinic, synthetic practice fields and weight rooms.
According to Cherie White, Moultrie Tech’s EHO instructor at Tiftarea Academy, the main highlight was standing on Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium. While on the field, students were instructed on the daily care, fertilization, and painting practices on the Tifway 419 under field conditions as FSU’s staff prepared the field for the Garnet and Goal spring game.
Dually-enrolled student with Tiftarea Academy and Moultrie Tech Stephen McMillan stated, “It is amazing to see all the care and hard work it takes into making this field look its best. For years, I have loved to watch FSU on TV and now I am actually standing on their field.”
The group of students and their advisors Dr. Eddie Seagle, Jim Felton, and Cherie White, were all treated to lunch at Old Times Country Buffet by ABAC alumni William Dillard, co-owner of Southeastern Field Construction. The SFC is in charge of planting 26 fields for the intramural department at FSU. The students toured this construction area which covered 104 acres of land.
Says White, “During the visit, the entire site was active with all types of equipment, including excavators, backhoes and irrigation equipment. However, the students were able to see first-hand how the fields were created, leveled, set for irrigation, and were to be set for sprigging or sodding in the near future.”
”The students and advisors would like to say a special thank you to Southeastern Field Construction for the wonderful meal. This trip is part of the educational process with ABAC’s Turfgrass Management program [Golf, Sports and Commercial] and Moultrie Technical College’s Turfgrass Management Certificate program.”
Anyone interested in any of these programs can contact ABAC’s Dr. Eddie Seagle by email at eseagle@abac.edu or MTC’s Cherie White at cwhite@moultrietech.edu at Moultrie Technical College.
