Between the Lines

KAFMO Marks 25 Years of Little League Baseball® World Series Partnership

2022 is a double anniversary year – Little League Baseball ® World Series celebrates 75 years of playing ball and the Keystone Athletic Field Managers Organization (KAFMO), celebrates 25 years of providing field maintenance assistance for the World Series in Williamsport. The Little League World Series has become a landmark event. Every August, teams of 11- and 12-year-old players from all over the world converge on the Little League complex in South Williamsport, PA with high hopes. The event has grown from 16 to 20 teams and in 2022 it was Hawaii’s Honolulu Little League who bested Curaçao 13–3 to become the Little League Baseball ® World Series Champions. Television coverage of every game on ABC/ESPN has sent the numbers of spectators into the millions. Of course, the players, coaches, and umpires on the field are the focus of camera operators and television production crews. But long before they can “Play ball,” the field must be ready and safe for play. That task is carried out by members of KAFMO.

Wetting the Infield

History

KAFMO’s history is closely intertwined with that of Little League Baseball ® . At about the same time that KAFMO founder Don Fowler was bringing together his first group of athletic field professionals, Little League leaders decided to renovate Lamade Stadium for the 50th Little League World Series. “KAFMO members were asked to help with the job and we stepped up,” he said with pride in a 2020 look back over his career. In recent years, Don’s son Jeff has taken over the job of coordinating the volunteers who come for the Series. Over time, as the event has become bigger and more popular on TV, Don’s handwritten list of volunteers has grown to a database of more than one hundred people from twenty-one states who come to help – and need to be housed, fed, and assigned to work crews.

Volunteer Professionalism

Jeff Fowler, Penn State Cooperative Extension Turfgrass educator and KAFMO Board member, works with Little League staff to make sure every volunteer is taken care of. He gives them major credit for their hard work and professional approach. “The chapter has been honored to assist Little League Baseball ® with field preparation for 25 years. The crew that we assemble for the Little League World Series is second to none. Not only do they have the fields at the forefront of their minds, but their professionalism is supreme.”

KAFMO grounds crew volunteers are active members of SFMA (formerly STMA). The volunteers arrive before the series begins, level the playing surface, edge the fields, and resod any areas that are worn from summer play in preparation for the twelve days of the Series. Every night the crew removes the lines, grooms and waters the infield, brooms the edges of the grass, repairs clay in the home plate circle and on the pitcher’s mound, grooms the warning track, and has the field ready for the next day. Some volunteers stay for the entire two weeks; others help out for a few days. People use their vacation time and leave their own work and families to come to the Series to assist with field preparations. Why do they do it?

Almost Game Time

Many Rewards

“Being part of a group of professionals who are providing top quality playing fields for the World Series is an honor,” says Bill Boll, retired Assistant Facilities Director for York Suburban School District in York, PA. Bill has been volunteering at Williamsport since 2009. “I prepare and maintain the pitching mound in Lamade Stadium with Jim Welshans, as well as any other tasks required on the fields and practice fields. The excitement and energy generated by the players is very rewarding. It never gets old and it is why I come back each year. An unexpected reward I’ve experienced over the years at Williamsport is the friendships and bonds developed with other crew members from all over the country. Many have become life-long friends. It’s like family.”

Volunteer Dan Miller, Director of Parks and Recreation for North Huntingdon Township, agrees. His annual tradition of assisting at Williamsport started in 2015 and for the past eight summers, each one has been a memorable experience. “Sharing knowledge, meals, and laughs with ‘turf and dirt’ friends giving their time where baseball played by kids is ‘pure’ keeps me coming back,” he says. “Many hands make light work.”

Brooming 1st Base Line

Led by Leaders

“Rob and Jeff manage our duties and schedules in a way that has us all proud to represent Little League,” says Miller. “We are led by leaders.” Rob is Rob Guthrie, Head Groundskeeper at the Little League complex. “The volunteers bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience of turf and field maintenance. Most volunteers are able to jump in and begin working seamlessly in our current field maintenance operation,” he says. His number one priority is providing a safe playing surface year-round for the kids to play on. It is his dedication throughout the year that lays the groundwork for the intense 40 games over twelve days in August. A safe field requires year-round attention and the wear and tear of the Series takes a heavy toll on the fields in mid-August. “The volunteers play an important role in putting the finishing touches on the stadiums and making sure they are safe for play. I rely heavily on them for game day preparation and without them a world series event would not be possible,” says Guthrie.

The KAFMO volunteer grounds crew has good reason to be proud of what they accomplish during the Series. Many of the crew members have been attending for 15 years or more. Some even bring their own children with them to help out, a welcome sight to all KAFMO members. As Jeff Fowler, whose own family has a multi-generational KAFMO/Little League Baseball ® World Series tradition, puts it, “That is how the next generation of sports turf managers are made!”

Keystone Athletic Field Managers Organization 1451 Peter’s Mountain Road Dauphin, PA 17018-9504 www.KAFMO.org • Email: KAFMO@aol.com

Contact: Linda Kulp, Executive Secretary Phone: 717-497-4154 kulp1451@gmail.com

Contact: Dan Douglas, President Phone: 610-375-8469 x 212 KAFMO@aol.com