February 01, 2005
Kyle Field, the home of the Fightin' Texas Aggie football team, has been named the 2004 top collegiate football field in the country by the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA).
"Judging the award winners was tough," Tim Moore, a certified sports field manager and chairman of the four-person STMA Awards Committee, said. "We had many excellent applicants with high quality sports fields."
Leo Goertz, the athletic fields maintenance manager for Texas A&M, received the award presented during the 16th Annual STMA Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. STMA has more than 2,400 members who oversee sports fields and facilities at schools, colleges and universities, parks and recreational facilities as well as professional sports stadiums.
"The Field of the Year Award validates the great work of our members," Kim Heck, CEO of the Sports Turf Managers Association, said. "This honor is one of only a handful that the association awards to recognize quality sports field management. Leo Goertz and his crew have great experience and expertise and that is definitely reflected in the award-winning playing conditions at Kyle Field."
Goertz, a New Braunfels native, is a 1985 graduate of Texas A&M and oversees the various playing fields for Aggie athletics. He began his career as the supervisor of the Aggies' baseball diamond, Olsen Field. Goertz was awarded the Collegiate Baseball Groundskeeper of the Year in both 1985 and 1987. Goertz and his softball crew were honored with the Turface National Fast Pitch Coaches Association field of the year regionally in 1997 and took national honors in 1999. In 2000, Goertz and the soccer grounds crew earned the Collegiate Soccer Field of the Year Award presented by STMA.
"I have a super assistant in Craig Potts and we are fortunate to have a great crew that loves their work," Goertz said. "We take great pride in making all of our playing surfaces the very best for our teams."
"Leo and his crew do an outstanding job for Texas A&M," Director of Athletics Bill Byrne said. "We are all about Building Champions and that includes having the very best playing surfaces in the country."
Other 2004 Field of the Year Award winners included:
Baseball Professional Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY Collegiate Isotopes Park, Albuquerque, NM Schools/Parks Doubleday Field, Cooperstown, NY Football Professional Dallas Cowboys Football Facility, Irving, TX Collegiate Kyle Field at Texas A&M, College Station, TX