West Coast Sportsfield Training Day Report

There certainly was a lot of hubbub surrounding the inaugural West Coast Sportsfield Training Day conceived and hosted by WCTA Past President/STA Director and Manager of Parks Operations for the Township of Langley, Tab Buckner.   Judging by the email and phone inquiries received by the WCTA office, a lot of people were pleasantly surprised to learn a summertime event with education and a supplier trade show was being planned.

When the day was done,  106 delegates, 22 vendors, 5 demonstration station exhibitors and 2 world class speakers took part in the Sport Turf Association (STA) sanctioned  event held August 29th at the Langley Events Centre and Willoughby Community Park in Langley, BC.  Even TOL Mayor Jack Froese took some time out of his busy schedule to attend and deliver words of encouragement to the participants!

Tab Buckner (right) presents TOL Mayor Jack Froese with a small token of appreciation from the Organizing Committee

This rain or shine indoor/outdoor event was modelled after the STA’s Field Day, an annual day-long educational and tradeshow held every fall for the past 25 years, most of which have taken place in various Ontario locations except for in 2011 and 2013, where efforts to support Atlantic sports turf managers saw the STA deliver additional field days in Moncton and Halifax respectively. 

“We were excited to work with the WCTA and Tab Buckner on the first ever West Coast Training Day,” commented Lee Huether, STA Executive Manager.  “Our partnership with the WCTA has paved the way for events like this to take place and we’re closer to achieving our goal of supporting sports turf managers from coast to coast.”

Kwantlen Univeristy Turf Management Instructor Stan Kazymerchyk (left) welcomes speaker Mark Lucas from the University of California

 University of Guelph's Dr. Eric Lyons presenting his talk on root zone management.

 The training day was designed for participation by all levels of sportsfield management personnel;   the formula included education, networking opportunities, a chance to visit suppliers at the outdoor tradeshow, live demonstrations and even hands on equipment testing.

 A cross-section of some of the tradeshow vendors

 A few more vendors...

The Corix BBQ-mobile provided a great burger/hot dog lunch combo!

The man in charge of the BBQ - thanks Jed McGeachie and crew of Corix Water Products for an amazing job of serving up lunch!

Horatio Hornblower AKA Tab Buckner, gives the signal for groups to move to the next demo station

One Man Sand Band - Ken Reid of Farm-Tek Services explains sand banding to a group of delegates. Note Ken's son Chris was in the tractor making it a 'two man father-son sand band'

A little rain did not dampen the spirit.

Cool pano of the NE natural grass field at Willoughby Community Park. IIABC Irrigation Audit station in foreground.

Mike Gentile explains and demonstrates the importance of G-Max testing on synthetic sportsfields.

Last but certainly not least, Mark McMaster (right foreground) and Ben Houtta go over the importance of synthetic sportsfield maintenance.

It’s been a long time since we’ve done any sort of field day,” stated WCTA Executive Director Jerry Rousseau, “and while we’ve been involved with a lot of great golf events over the years, we’ve never done something of this scale for our sportsfield members.”

The event was very well received by everyone involved and would not have happened without the support of Corix Water Products, Terralink Horticulture, Toro Irrigation and Irritrol, Astro Turf, Farm-Tek Services/TDS West and our demonstration station hosts that included Premier Pacific Seeds, A.R. Mower & Supply, Irrigation Association of BC, DMA Sportsgroup, Farm-Tek Services and Astro-Turf.  It’s important we mention the tremendous job by the TOL Parks Department Staff with all the on-site legwork.         

“At the end of the day we accomplished our goal of providing a low-cost, high quality education opportunity to our membership,” said Tab Buckner.  “We’re calling the day a huge success and really want to thank all our sponsors, tradeshow vendors, speakers and of course everyone who attended for making it possible.  I especially want to thank TOL Parks Department staff for getting things done and the Township of Langley itself for allowing this event to be hosted here.”

Click Here for final list of participants
See below for tradeshow supplier list and contacts:

Corix Water Products - LUNCH SPONSOR
Jo-Ann Latta  jo-ann.latta@corix.com

Premier Pacific Seeds - DEMO STATION HOST
David Wall  david@premierpacificseeds.com

A.R. Mower & Supply  DEMO STATION HOST
Mark McMaster   mark@armower.com

FarmTek Service / TDS West  DEMO STATION HOST AND TAKE-HOME GIFT SPONSOR
Ken Reid   farmtek@shaw.ca

Irrigation Industry Association of B.C.  DEMO STATION HOST
Karen Van Der Gulik   iiabc@irrigationbc.com

DMA Sports Group   DEMO STATION HOST
Mike Gentile  mikeg@isa-sport-usa.com

Astro Turf   DEMO STATION HOST
Martin Wright  martin@astroturfcanada.com

Terralink Horticulture  COFFEE SERVICE SPONSOR
Lisa Birston  marketing@tlhort.com

Toro Irrigation / Irritrol  TAKE HOME GIFT MAJOR SPONSOR
Terry Ormrod  terry.ormrod@toro.com

Nilex 
Barry Walker  barry.walker@nilex.com

Yardworks Supply 
Larry Agnew  larry@yardworkssupply.ca

THP Co. 
Dave Duncan  turfhealthproducts@hotmail.com

Avenue Machinery 
John Fleming  johnf@avenuemachinery.ca

Direct Solutions 
Heather Blackett  hblackett@agriumat.com

Rollins Machinery  
Robin Gough  robin@rollinsmachinery.ca

Eljay Irrigation 
Karen Hounsome karen@eljay.com

Western Turf Farms Ltd. 
Ron Rindt  ron@westernturffarms.com

Wood Bay 
Nicole Sutton  nicolesutton1@gmail.com

Suttle Recreation Inc. 
Kory Mackenzie  kory@suttle-recreation.com

Foreshore Equipment & Supply 
Al Chrzanecki  al@foreshoreequipment.com

Kwantlen Polytechnic University 
David Davidson  david.davidson@kwantlen.ca

Club Car / Terra Equipment 
Kevin Orton  kevin_orton@clubcar.com
Ron Aston  terraequipltd@telus.net

BrettYoung 
Karen Green  karen.green@brettyoung.ca

Van-Kel / EMCO Corporation 
Janet Carson  dtofte@vankel.ca

OakCreek Golf & Turf Inc. 
Cary Blue  caryblue@oakcreek.ca

Keso Turf Supplies 
Scott Kraemer  scott@keso.ca

Tomko Sports Systems Inc. 
Ian Macdonald  ian@tomko-sports.com

Prairie Coast 
JD Frame  jdframe@pcequip.ca

Western Rootzone  
Tim Kubash  turfcat@live.ca