Message From the WSTMA President

Greetings All,

Uncertainty…. That seems to be the word I hear the most lately. Not only the word uncertainty but, the overall attitude. It seems that we all are moving forward cautiously in all aspects of our lives, and rightfully so.

In regard to the Wisconsin Sports Turf Managers Association, we have chosen to move forward cautiously also when it comes to what we can do to help our Members through this time of COVID-19 and its effects on not only Sports turf management, but their lives in general.

Hopefully you received an email from us regarding the actions the National STMA in assisting turf managers with a free 6-month membership to the STMA and its Educational offerings. I encourage you all to take advantage of this opportunity if you’re not already a member of the STMA. We will continue to forward any information and opportunities from the STMA to our WSTMA members and any other interested sports turf managers as it becomes available. We’d like to thank the STMA for their efforts in helping out the industry.

As far as the WSTMA, we have many thoughts on how to help our Members, but with, as stated previously, the general uncertainty at this time, we want to make sure our assistance, whatever that may be, is as helpful as possible. We don’t know how long this situation will last and how it will, in the long run, affect sports turf managers ability to work and manage turf and most importantly how it will affect their lives in general.

With that said, our plan is, for the time being, is to keep the lines of communication open between our members and the WSTMA Board of Directors. We understand that that this situation affects everyone differently. It would be disingenuous to say that we can understand or predict how this affects each person’s life so what we want is to be able to remain open as to the ways we can help YOU! Whether it’s Education, Networking, or financial issues, as this moves on through the future months, more needs will become apparent. We want to make sure any decisions we make now, don’t inhibit our ability to help you later.

Our plan is to move forward as an Association with our goals for this year. Realizing that many turf managers are deemed essential and are managing their fields and many with skeleton crews, our work here at the WSTMA remains the same and we don’t plan to change that.

What we want to stress, not only at this time but moving forward, a goal of the WSTMA is that the lines of communication will always be open. As I’ve said before, and truly believe, Networking and collaboration are keys to our success. PLEASE, reach out to us and your peers! First of all, what do you need regarding this current situation? Secondly, as turf managers, answers to questions or issues regarding turf management are often available through reaching out to experts (Professors, etc.…) or from the turf manager down the road or across the state. Our goal is to connect you to the right people to answer your questions or solve your problem. We want to be that readily available conduit.

In conclusion, how can we assist you? As time passes and we work to get past these challenging times, we want to work to help you by hearing what it is you need, not what we think you need. We have plenty of options for reaching out. First off, the Board of Directors contact information is on the website, there is also a Member Forum (open to anyone) on the website. Please weigh in. We also have both Twitter and Facebook accounts. We encourage you to reach out in whatever manner you choose. In the meantime, we’ll continue to perform our duties. As the turf season starts, we have research projects set to start, we will continue to monitor and share pertinent turf information and assistance that may arise, and also, we are looking into new offerings to our members such as scholarships instructional videos. Business as usual in unusual surroundings.
May you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy. We are all weathering this storm in different boats, but all with the same destination.

Sincerely,
Michael Krupke
President WSTMA