Source: NCSU COLLEGE OF AG & LIFE SCIENCES, 11/9/20


March’s COVID-19 shut -down caught everyone off guard. There was little time to prepare for closings and no one knew how long they would last. Many turfgrass managers and municipal employees were suddenly told to go home.

That’s when the emails and phone calls to Jimmy Simpson began to accumulate. As the current President of the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA), he heard the concerns and fears of the unknown which members expressed. In good sports leadership fashion, Simspon called in a team, including NC State’s turfgrass management expert Grady Miller.

“When building out the task group I tried to hit as many areas of our industry as possible. I requested Dr. Miller’s help because he is a strong advocate for natural grass and for sports turf managers throughout the world. I knew he would bring that advocacy to the table,” Simpson said.

The Go-To in Turfgrass Management
This wasn’t Miller’s first call to consult on turfgrass management. He was part of a U.S. envoy to evaluate the 2007 Olympic turfgrass venues in Beijing and is a past advisor to many college and pro sports teams including the Chicago Bears and the Italian Soccer Premier League. 

“I was honored to serve on the STMA taskforce. We asked ourselves 'how we can help [sports field managers] get through this shutdown?’, knowing there would certainly be agronomic problems, but also psychological concerns,” Miller said. He and seven other volunteers held weekly Zoom meetings to identify specific member pain points and form a plan of action. 

Volunteering for Healing
Throughout the 2020 summer, NC State University offered employees time off for COVID-related volunteer work. While employees contributed to communities in various ways, Grady Miller had a specific calling. “My role was to write and organize literature. A lot of these turf managers were losing budgets, workforce, and the ability to maintain their facilities. [Serving them] wasn’t just about agronomics, but about supporting people who felt at a loss,” Miller said.

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