James Massey finds it nearly impossible to escape work.
As the Grounds Maintenance Supervisor for Kansas Athletics, Massey and his two-person crew are responsible for providing the Algerian National Football Team a perfect practice pitch at Rock Chalk Park. Each day for the past several months they groom, treat and protect the lush green field, home of the University of Kansas women’s soccer team. It’s a heady task for the 38-year-old Brisbane, Australia, native, who joined the KU team in April.
“We're competing with some professional fields — KC Current, Arrowhead, Sporting KC,” Massey said. “We're getting up against some pretty elite surfaces and, you know, we're pulling our weight.”
But that weight doesn’t end on Friday. Like the plumber whose faucet always drips, the mechanic whose car is always broken down or the shoemaker whose children have no shoes, the
groundskeeper’s own lawn, well, needs some work.
“Yeah, every Saturday morning when I wake up, we've got to get out there and do the yard,” said Massey, who lives about 55 miles west of Lawrence in St. Marys, Kansas, with his pregnant wife Justine. “I'm like, yeah, I've just done seven days of that. I need a break. I need a sit down.”
Expecting their first child in September, tending to one-third an acre at the homestead and trying to provide the perfect pitch for the world’s greatest 39-day soccer tournament makes a “sit down” nearly impossible, particularly with the Algerian team arriving this weekend.
Its first two practices will actually occur on KU’s track infield. Following Wednesday’s friendly against Bolivia in Kansas City, Missouri, the Algerians will shift practices to Massey’s pitch.
Fields of green
Beyond the beauty of a plush, green pasture of grass, there is nothing simplistic about its utility, particularly for those who play on it or nurture it. Midwestern backyards are paved with the adaptable but rather pedestrian fescue grass, a clumpy turf that grows multiple blades from a single crown. Fescue isn’t as exotic as Bermuda or Kentucky Bluegrass but it’s hardy, heat and drought resistant, and can tolerate heavy foot traffic.
World Cup pitches feature a mix of Bermuda and ryegrass. Bermuda is warm-season grass, repairs quickly and has above-ground runners known as stolons. They initiate new grass blades directly from the soil surface. It is common on professional turf surfaces that can be cut short and is more durable than fescue.
“Fescue, it doesn't like to be mowed much shorter than about two and a half or three inches to stay healthy,” said Damian Baumen, Grass Pad senior sales representative in Bonner Springs. “Bermuda and rye, those types of grasses can actually take a cutting down to half an inch to an inch tall.”
At Rock Chalk Park, two 15,000-pound John Deere PrecisionCut mowers methodically creep across the field’s surface, shaving the Bermuda and ryegrass blend to 5/8ths of an inch — about the diameter of a standard glass marble. In eight-foot swaths while traveling a steady 4 miles per hour, the two-hour mowing process occurs twice a day using blades that require weekly sharpening.
FIFA regulations allow mowing to either be north-south or east west. No diagonal cuts or crop formation-like patterns are allowed.
“I’ve worked on high school fields but nothing that needs to be this standard,’’ Massey said. “Every pass with the mower is down to the millimeter, both ways. It's all metric, which is good for me but a bit annoying for the guys. I know metric, so it’s cool.”
FIFA invested more than $5 million in natural grass research for the World Cup. Researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Tennessee were charged with providing surface conformity for 16 stadiums, including five dome venues.
“Obviously, we want as much uniformity as possible,” said John Sorochan, a UT professor contracted by FIFA to oversee the growth, installation and care of the pitches. “When you have over 170 different pitches, you know, how consistent and uniform can you make it? … FIFA invested significant money into getting evidence-based research to pull off the biggest World Cup.”
Because he works with the game venues and not practice sites, Sorochan, who was at the Dallas World Cup pitch Thursday, has not visited Rock Chalk Park but is confident the surface is top notch.
Two or three times a week a FIFA representative visits Rock Chalk to inspect and consult with Massey and his team. The rep also inspects the other practice fields: KC Current (The Netherlands), Sporting Kansas City (Argentina), and Swope Soccer Village (England).
Although it wasn’t the case at Rock Chalk Park, plastic fibers similar to artificial turf were woven into the sod to make pitches more uniform and durable. The Rock Chalk pitch is all natural, grown on a sand root zone with an irrigation system that sprays 13,000 to 14,000 gallons of water on the field each day. Nonetheless, Massey was waiting on a delivery of a special type of turf. Some stadiums use a unique technique where the hybrid grass sod is grown on sheets of plastic.
“Our turf hasn't been grown on plastic but actually we're getting some from the New Jersey site that was supposed to go to MetLife (Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey) where they're hosting the final,” he said. “We're just re-laying a couple of areas (in need of repair) with turf grown on plastic, which I've never done.”
What grass loves
Under a beating sun and temperatures climbing into the 80s, Massey stands on the Rock Chalk sidelines, arms crossed surveilling Kody Roberts and Tanner Fisher as they guide their John Deeres across the pitch. When the pair stop to empty their grass collection baskets, Massey quickly approaches for an animated conversation.
When Massey returns to his sideline observation post, he explains that the FIFA directional mowing guidelines weren’t being followed.
“He went the wrong way on that first trip. So, he's got it going. You would have mucked up the whole world.”
Massey wasn’t upset or angry. He recognizes the challenge and is confident his team will meet that challenge. He understands the scrutiny. Modifications are part of the job. Nonetheless, the real test begins next week when players hit the pitch. Massey isn’t worried. If changes need to be made, they’ll make them.
“They're going away for three days to play in California (June 22 vs. Jordan). We got a really good team of contractors who can come in. They can re-sod, they we can top dress, we can aerate. You give us two or three days and we can completely renovate that field.”
For now, the sun is shining and the smell of freshly cut Bermuda-ryegrass fills the warm air. As Massey surveys the Rock Chalk pitch, he sees perfection.
“This will make it pop really, really good,” he says looking toward the sky while partially shading the sun with his left hand. “Sometimes you can't beat a bit of a good lightning storm, good rain and sun. That's what grass loves.”
