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The Story Behind: The Grounds

Presented by Toyota

By Philadelphia Union

May 9^th, 2017

The day starts early for John, Brandon, and Dwayne, as they arrive and prep their equipment while the sun rises over the stadium. The three-person crew is responsible for over 7 acres of meticulously-cared for grass, with Ryegrass in-stadium and Bermuda grass on the training fields.

Brandon Bousema, the Assistant Groundskeeper, starts by laying down the leading lines for the mowing pattern. Rain is expected throughout Friday and on Saturday morning, so the crew got prep-work done earlier in the week to be ready for the team's in-stadium training session on Friday.

Brandon Bousema, Assistant Groundskeeper

John Torres, Head Groundskeeper, has been here since the start. Brought in as an assistant, he remembers the days of prepping the grass while wearing a hard-hat as the stadium was still under construction.

The grass is cut down to just one-inch high. For reference, most lawns are kept between two and four inches tall. The grass is sprayed with a growth regulator to keep it from growing too quickly and leaving the guys with barrels of cut grass each time they mow. Below, you can see the fine margins that get cut each time.

With a bird's eye view, the pattern begins to take shape after a few rows.

With the grass down to one inch, the white paint comes next. The same hundreds of yards of string are laid down to mark every inch of the boundaries. While Dwayne Briscoe, Turf Coordinator, carefully toes the line with the paint roller ahead of him, Brandon uses wooden cut-outs to mark the kick-off and penalty spots, as well as 10-yard markers from the corners.

Time for practice on Friday. The field is marked, and goals placed for the team's final tune-up before hosting New York Red Bulls. Constantly monitoring Doppler Radar, if John expects rain, you can count on it raining.

With prep-work done in the week, the crew arrives early on Saturday for a final pass with the mower and painter. Field boards are set out, and goals are put up. As expected, rain and clouds came and went throughout the early part of the day. When it's almost time for warmups, John, Brandon, and Dwayne turn the sprinklers on for their final work before kick-off.

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