BMO Field Trip

Today we had a very exciting field trip, that I imagine will be hard to be for the rest of the year. Today was the day that we got to visit BMO Field where the TFC play in Toronto. The day started off rocky as our bus had a flat tire so we had to wait around for about a half hour for the new bus to come, however when the new bus came we had no problems getting to the big smoke (Toronto). When we got off the bus in the parking lot we were greeted by the grounds master at BMO Field, whom was a former U of Guelph graduate named Rob Heggie. Rob took us out onto the field right away and gave us some information on height of cut and rolling techniques. he also talked about the politics of taking care of such high profile turf, such as dealing with soccer teams and coaches. It was only a short while before Rob invited us all to eat! while eating lunch we were able to look at the latest and greatest machines from Turf care as they were on display there for a field day. After lunch we were lead into a small room with lot of pipes and generators. This is where the underground heating system and sub air system were situated. A neat fact about the heating system is that Rob can have all the snow off his grass by mid February just by heating up the ground underneath the turf. We then jumped back on the bus and headed downtown to the Kia practise facility, this too was a really cool place but with just a little less glamour. It too had a sub air system, but not a heating system. We also got to see the shop in which they work out of and keep machines, however it was pretty empty as Rob rents most of the equipment he uses. All in all it was a great day and an amazing facility to visit. It really changed my perspective on the sports field industry, seeing I am mostly golf orientated. It impressed me so much that I would actually consider a career at a football, baseball, or soccer field one day...maybe.

Joe Atkinson
http://bmofield.com/

 (top) BMO Field
(bottom) Heating and sub air system