Groundskeeper Chats

Troy Crawford joined us in his home state to update us on his next adventure! With more than 30 years of experience with teams like the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and FC Dallas, Troy is bringing his talents to the new Texas Health Mansfield Stadium as their Director of Grounds. Here's what you'll hear from our latest SFMA episode:

- Troy's Turf Origin Story

- 30 years with some of the Texas greats

- What's next?

- Troy's turf family tree

A little bit more about our guests...

Troy Crawford led the Moneygram Soccer Park as the Director of Grounds before taking his latest gig with Texas Health Mansfield Stadium. Crawford has been a fixture in the Texas turfgrass industry and at the national level for decades and continues to make an impact through mentorship, innovation and passion.

Travis Sales, Director Parks Recreation and Animal Services at City of Rockwall, joined us in Fort Worth to help bring the Texas energy to our SFMA series!

Ava Veith has lived many lives already in the turf industry. Her current gig has her at Penn State University working alongside Chase Straw. Ava's turned her passion for sports into turf during her time at Virginia Tech and the sky is the limit! Here's what you'll hear in this week's #GroundskeeperChat: 

• Soccer player to precision turf management 
• Falling in love with the research 
• Tech to KC to Penn State 
• What's on the horizon for Ava Veith 

A little bit more about our guest... 
Ava Veith was a soccer student athlete when she was contemplating what her future might look like without soccer. She stumbled onto her path and the rest is history. She finished her masters at Virginia Tech and is now going after her Ph. D. student at Penn State University 

Dynamic duo Brad and Colby with The University of Houston opened our live show in Fort Worth with a bang! They brought the energy and stories to help us kick off our SFMA series. Here's what you'll hear in this week's #GroundskeeperChat: 

• Check-in with Brad 
• Wrangling Colby into the chat 
• The Dynamic of the crew and culture 
• What's to come in 2026 for the UH Cougar Crew 

A little bit more about our guests...
Brad Finn is the Assistant Athletics Director for Grounds, Facilities & Events at the University of Houston, Colby Murray is the Director of Grounds, Facilities & Events at The University of Houston.

The final power couple of our SFMA series is Nick McKenna and Holly Kasperbauer joined Meg in Fort Worth. The two down minutes after finishing their session to rehash the content, the takeaways and much more in this week's chat. Here's what you'll hear in this #GroundskeeperChat: 

• Holly's origin story, rooted in turf 
• Holly & Nick in the classroom 
• Generational Intelligence: Leadership for a Multigenerational Workforce session recap 

A little bit more about our guests... 

Nick McKenna has been the Assistant Athletic Director at Texas A&M since 2011. He worked as a sports field manager for the university directly out of undergrad before spending time at Virginia Tech and then ultimately returning home to be an Aggie! Holly J. Kasperbauer joined the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University as assistant director of the Public Service Leadership Program but has a background in the agriculture and turfgrass sciences. 

The industry's yearly therapy session with the ultimate power couple, the Goatley's is here. The Goatley's joined Meg and Tyler Morris in Fort Worth at SFMA for the 2026 check in. Here's what you'll hear in this week's episode:

- Work/Life Balance Session Recap

- Breaking News: Retirement

- Partner POV

- Recap + what's to come

A little bit more about our guests... Lisa Goatley is a Licensed Professional Counselor in a private practice. Mike Goatley is a Professor and Extension Turgrass Specialist at Virgina Tech University. Longtime friends of the Groundskeeper Chat series!

Live from Fort Worth, Tyler Morris and Alex Principe joined me to help kick off our 2026 SFMA series. A concept of bringing in the partner's POV into the chat finally came to fruition. Here's what you'll hear on this week's #GroundskeeperChat: 

• The MVP's on the Homefront for FIFA
• Partner POV 
• Building a Community 
• Sis Pitches 
• SFMA special segments 

A little bit more about our guests... 
Tyler Morris, CSFM is the Head Sports Field Manager at MetLife Stadium. Alex Principe is a law student and event planner for Sis Pitches.

One of the most name dropped guests of the day, Matt Duncan joined us at OTF to share about his career which is rooted in networking and mentoring. Here's what you'll hear in this week's #GroundskeeperChat: 

• Matt's turf origin story 
• Matt Duncan, the meaningful mentor 
• How OTF has impacted Matt's career 
• Matt's living legacy in the industry 

A little bit more about our guest... 
Matt Duncan is a Professional Turf Account Manager at DLF USA. 

Tyler Carr joined us amidst a busy conference day at OTF to bring us up to speed on the logistics behind what's to come for the industry organization in 2026. Here's what you'll hear in this #GroundskeeperChat: 

• Tyler's new role as the Executive Director for OTF 
• Building and establishing trust with board members 
• The impact OTF has played in Tyler's career 
• Meaningful mentors along the way 

A little bit more about our guest...
Tyler Carr is the Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University and Executive Director for the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation

Columbus Clippers', Chris Mason joined us for the first time at the Ohio Turfgrass Conference. We dove into his turf origin story and much more in this week's #GroundskeeperChat. Here's what you'll hear:

- Chris Mason's turf origin story

- How to build a crew

- How OTF has impacted Chris' career

- Meaningful mentors along the way

A little bit more about our guest... Chris Mason is the Head Groundskeeper for the Columbus Clippers. He spent time on many sides of the industry before taking the head gig in Columbus and has been with the crew for several seasons now.