What ‘growing’ industry combines ag with sports? Atwater High students are finding out

Atwater High students got hands-on experience Thursday in a growing industry in need of skilled employees.

The new Turfgrass and Sports Field Management course at the school was created to focus on turfgrass, soils and irrigation which is all associated with agriculture, said Dave Gossman, agriculture instructor and FFA advisor.

“It came about because if you think about it, every community has a park, recreational fields, every school district has fields for the students,” Gossman said.

“You get into the college and universities, they have sports and athletic fields, and then you move on to the professional ranks. And we felt it was really an untapped area of agriculture because it’s turf, it’s irrigation and it’s soil, and that’s 100 percent agriculture.”

The investment in resources and equipment was made possible due to the district’s support of high school Career Technical Education pathways, according to Gossman.

Student Abby Wilson said she had no idea what ag class she was going to take this year as a senior.

“I’ve taken almost all of the ones you can take here, but Mr. Gossman, he’s a go-getter and he made this new class for us,” she said. “I can probably speak for all of us here saying that we’ve all learned a whole bunch of new things that we didn’t even know got put into turfgrass management.”

Senior Gunnar Kale said that turf management is a career he may pursue in the future. He plans to attend an Iowa college with a good agriculture program.

“There’s a possibility that I might be doing some turf management type of stuff with internships over the summer,” Kale said. “So it’s a big possibility and I’m really looking forward to diving into it in college.”

According to Gossman, the Agriculture Department, which the National FFA has said is the largest single high school agriculture program in the nation, is currently working with school district groundskeepers as well as athletic coaches to identify areas where the students can utilize fields for hands-on learning and skill development.

Students in the course have also visited and met with groundskeeper staff from the Oakland Athletics, Fresno Grizzlies and the Modesto Nuts. According to Gossman, the Modesto Nuts have invited students to work some of the games next season.

This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 3:17 PM.