Between the Line

Waddington / Harper Scholarships Help Turf Students Reach Goals

Every February, turf managers gather for the annual KAFMO Athletic Field Conference to exchange experiences and celebrate accomplishments. A highlight of the conference is the naming of the Waddington/Harper Scholarship award recipients for the year. At this year’s 25th Annual Conference, held February 18 at Shady Maple in East Earl, PA, four outstanding Penn State turfgrass students were honored with $1,000 scholarships to help them attain their educational goals. Eric Dowd, Damien Ganchoso, Nate Moore, and Zach Newsome expressed appreciation for the financial award and for the chance to build connections through KAFMO. The scholarship fits into each student’s individual career path somewhat differently, but all are grateful to have the support of the KAFMO family backing them.

Making Professional Connections

For Nate Moore and Zach Newsome, the benefits of building a career network stand out just as much as financial assistance from the scholarship. Zach Newsome got his first turf experience at DuPont Country Club in Delaware. “I felt excited to get out of bed every morning, and I loved the close-knit network that the industry seemed to offer,” he recalls. When he returned to Penn State, he decided to seek out opportunities in sports turf management as opposed to golf. “Visualizing the thrill that can come from putting on a quality product for hundreds of thousands of people excited me to an even higher level than I felt from my summer at my local country club.” He sees being a Waddington/Harper recipient as a benefit on both the financial and professional sides of the coin. “This award will help greatly with paying for my turfgrass education and has already aided in acquiring a few textbooks to build my personal turfgrass library,” he says. He also mentions KAFMO events in Savannah and Lancaster as great opportunities to meet other professionals in the field.

“Attending conferences like KAFMO, SFMA, and GCSAA allows me to make some great connections,” agrees Nate Moore, Vice-President of the Penn State Turf Club and Beaver Stadium Ground Crew member. “It gives students the chance to show how much they’ve learned and really work as a team. A lot of people I’ve met at these conferences I’ve continued to keep in touch with.” He hopes it will lead to a job when he graduates in 2023; in a perfect world, he wants to stay at Penn State, a long-time dream. “I wish to be able to influence aspiring turfgrass students someday, as my mentors have done for me!”

2022 Scholarship recipients L to R: Moore, Ganchoso, Newsome and Dowd

Meeting Long-term Goals

Eric Dowd and Damien Ganchoso are no strangers to challenges. “My background in turf started after high school by working on a golf course, which turned into a passion,” Dowd recalls. “I would look forward to learning new practices on how the greens, fairways, and tees were maintained.” He started by taking one class at a time to attain his degree in turf management. Damien Ganchoso, who is in the process of completing his final semester at Penn State University majoring in Turfgrass Management, also takes a long look back. “Family is the one main thing that motivates me to work hard, and I want to prove to myself that the large amount of effort I have put into the last four-plus years of my life is going to pay off,” he says.

Committed to getting an education in his chosen field but unwilling to take on huge student loans, Dowd joined the Army. After five years in Special Operations, he was finally able to take advantage of their tuition benefits to return to his long-term goal. He completed his Associate’s Degree in Washington state and is currently excited about expanding his turf expertise through work with the Beaver Stadium Ground Crew and an upcoming NFL internship under the guidance of Penn State’s top tier professors. The Waddington/Harper award is another piece in the puzzle of making Eric Dowd’s goals a reality.

Damien Ganchoso gathered a wealth of knowledge in the classroom but says the hands-on approach of multiple internships at Penn State has been invaluable. He interned with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Saucon Valley Country Club and feels that these experiences have proved to be beneficial. “My future goals within the industry are to be great at what I do and apply the skills that I have learned to the real world.” His Waddington/Harper award “has lightened my financial burden and has helped to make this investment in education possible,” he says. “KAFMO’s generosity has inspired me to help others as they have helped me, by giving back to the community and helping students to achieve their dreams.”

Advancing Educational Potential

One of KAFMO’s long-term goals has been to build up the profession from within with new generations of qualified turf professionals. Providing educational opportunities, including scholarships, is a key strategy. Since 2001, KAFMO has been recognizing outstanding students of sports turf management with a scholarship named in memory of Dr. Donald Waddington and Dr. John Harper, two pillars of the Penn State turf program. The scholarships are intended to identify and recognize outstanding students who plan careers in sports turf management and to support the students’ education.

How to Apply

Are you a career-oriented Turf Science student who could benefit from a Waddington/Harper Scholarship? To be eligible to apply, students must be enrolled at an accredited college or university in an approved turfgrass program, must have completed a substantial portion of the requirements needed for graduation, and must demonstrate an interest in sports turf management. A college transcript, a letter of recommendation from a faculty member, and a statement detailing the applicant’s interest in the field of sports turf management make up the application package. Eligible students are encouraged to apply for a Waddington/Harper Turfgrass Scholarship in 2023. For details and an application form, please visit https://kafmo.org/Scholarships. All application materials must be submitted by December 15, 2022.