Sports Fields: Design, Construction, and Maintenance

The completely updated edition of the definitive sports field book

Recognizing that new developments in the design, construction, and maintenance of sports fields have literally changed the playing field, Sports Fields, Second Edition is now fully updated and revised to continue its legacy as a leading authority on sports field management. Highly illustrated, with step-by-step examination of essential topics such as turfgrass and soil science, sand fields, turf paints, field quality evaluation, and weather preparedness, this in-depth guide chalks out the ultimate game plan to integrate these elements into a winning project. Sports Fields, Second Edition includes:

• New coverage of environmental stewardship and resource conservation, natural and organic field maintenance, and artificial turf care and maintenance
• Discussion of the following field types: baseball, softball, football, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, tennis, and track and field
• Updated information on grasses, pesticides, fertilizers, and equipment
• New exploration of green initiatives in the design and maintenance of fields
• Hundreds of illustrations, 50 percent of which are newly updated

A versatile how-to guide, Sports Fields, Second Edition suggests solutions to common field problems that are not only helpful for professional sports turf practitioners, but also for park and recreation professionals, school athletic field managers, architects, landscape architects, and engineers. Chapter after chapter delivers on the promise of imparting well-grounded principles that can be applied to create athletic fields that are long-lasting, visually dazzling―and eminently playable.

JAMES C. PUHALLA has thirty years' experience in the sports field industry, specializing in the design, construction, renovation, and maintenance of sports fields and related facilities. He was the 1994 recipient of the Baseball Field of the Year Award by the Sports Turf Managers Association and SportsTurf magazine.

JEFFREY V. KRANS, PHD, former professor of agronomy, Mississippi State University, is a turfgrass breeding and physiology specialist as well as a member of the Crop Science Society of America and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

J. MICHAEL GOATLEY, JR., PHD, Extension Turfgrass Specialist, Virginia Tech University, is an advisor for the Virginia Turfgrass Council and the Virginia Sports Turf Managers Association. He is the 2008 recipient of the Sports Turf Managers Association's William H. Daniel Founder's Award.