Sycamore grounds crew overcomes challenges in maintenance of facilities

SYCAMORE – Not that it happens a lot, but Sycamore football coach Joe Ryan said he’s seen teams show up at Engh Community Field surprised that the field isn’t turf.

It’s a testament, he said, to how well the crew that works on the field maintains not only the main football field but all of the fields at Sycamore High School.

“The biggest compliment we get, and we’ve had this a few times, is they get off the bus and they’ve never played at Sycamore and they’ve just watched film, and they didn’t realize it wasn’t turf,” Ryan said. “We’ve had that a couple of times where they go, ‘This isn’t turf?’ No, natural grass. That’s how good it looks on turf and in real life, too, I guess.”

Mark Ekstrom has been the director of building and grounds for the district for the past four years, and has spent 24 years in the district as an agriculture teacher and principal.

He said his staff and contractors put in a year-round effort to keep the fields looking sharp. The football field, like the soccer field, is mowed by Jason Funderberg, a contractor who uses the type of mower used on golf courses.

“When you get the positive side, it makes you feel like all that hard work to have things ready really makes it that way,” Ekstrom said. “A bunch of us are big sports fans, so we’re there watching our students play well on those fields. That’s always a great experience, too, to see them have top-notch facilities.”

“There’s pride in the program. I always thought that was a huge part, no matter where I’ve been, I wanted the game field, or all facilities, to be kept well. I just think it says a lot about your school and your athletic department.”

—  Sycamore football coach Joe Ryan

Ekstrom said there is a lot of work put in by district employees, as well, starting with head groundskeeper Tom Pritchett. Nik Binz and Dayne Shaw, who work in maintenance for the district, also help out on the fields when needed.

And during the rainy, rainy Illinois spring, they’re needed a lot. The entire back of the school on which the junior varsity baseball, softball and soccer fields, as well as the varsity softball and soccer field are built is basically a drainage basin. That’s especially true of the softball field, called The Swamp by coach Jill Carpenter.

The rainouts this year, despite the weather, have been minimal. On March 22, the Spartans played Indian Creek on a day in which most games across the area were postponed. Even with a light drizzle, the teams were able to play their early-season contest.

Ekstrom said the prep work done on the fields in the fall makes a big difference come March.

“The softball diamond gives us the most amount of – yeah, interesting times to keep them going,” Ekstrom said. “We did a lot of work on these fields to get ready for the spring. And for the baseball and softball fields, we do a lot of work in the fall on them. We put them to bed well for winter to make our spring a little easier.”

Carpenter said she’s impressed year in and year out with how the field is always ready to go, even with a chunk of it used to house plowed snow in the winter. Carpenter said the tireless work of the staff makes a difference for the players.

“I was on the phone with Tom this morning, and I was like, ‘Can you please do something with the mound? It’s not great?’” Carpenter said. “Two hours later, he’s like, ‘I got it, it’s all fixed. Let me know what you think.’ I can’t thank them enough because they have so many responsibilities around this district. It’s not just them at the high school. For them to put this much time into an after-school activity is really, really special.”

Ekstrom said he was particularly proud of a recent project to help curtail flooding on the lower-level softball field. The crew replaced the dirt with a more drainage-friendly one and also, with the help of a contractor, fixed a drainage issue under the field.

And although the field plays a little harder and faster now with the new dirt, at least it plays. Cancellations and postponements are drastically down from a year ago, he said.

“It makes us very happy [that] all the work we did in the fall paid off,” Ekstrom said. “You do all the hard work, and then you still have the same problem at the end, a really, really wet field is not great. But we’re really happy that we’ve been able to have both teams out here quite a bit on the home fields.

“And it’s given us a little less work to do here in the spring because they were put away so well. ... I’m watching them work on the field now, and last year we wouldn’t have been able to even drive the tractor out here because it would have sunk 8 inches into the mud.”

Ryan said the condition of all the fields reflects not only the programs but the school and the district as a whole.

“There’s pride in the program,” Ryan said. “I always thought that was a huge part, no matter where I’ve been – I wanted the game field, or all facilities, to be kept well. I just think it says a lot about your school and your athletic department.”