Pirate Spirit
Home field advantage
ECU’s athletics grounds crew key to team success
By Erin Ward
“I love the challenge of working through obstacles such as weather and field traffic to deliver the best field possible. I enjoy having the ability to bring value to what our coaches, team and fans see because it is a direct result of my team’s hard work, creativity and dedication. There are a lot of long hours put in by our team and having pride in our work is fulfilling.”
– Joey Perry, director of Athletics Grounds
“Honestly I wanted to be on the East Carolina grounds crew because I thought it would be a good opportunity to be more involved in the athletics department. It’s nice having a backstage pass into how athletics operates and getting to experience everything from a perspective not many people have the opportunity to see. Of course, not everything is perfect, and there are some parts of the job I don’t enjoy – like picking up leaves almost every day.”
– Matthew Morgan, senior, grounds crew intern
More from Joey Perry
What is your favorite part of the job?
I love the challenge of working through obstacles such as weather and field traffic to deliver the best field possible. I love working outside. I enjoy having the ability to bring value to what our coaches, team and fans see because it a direct result of my team’s hard work, creativity and dedication. There are a lot of long hours put in by our team and having pride in our work is fulfilling. I enjoy growing things! I have always loved sports and being part of the team by playing the role I do means so much to me. I feel a part of the team and the team’s success. The relationships I have with the coaches plays a big role in the joy for my job which has been the case for the majority of my career. Lastly, I love to interact with the student athletes seeing them grown and mature through this great program is great to witness.
What does it take to prepare the grass and the infield for baseball? What does the grounds crew do specifically to get it ready?
Specifically, before a baseball game we mow and clean up the grass on the field ensuring there are no leaves, debris impacting field performance. The work effort for the dirt portion of the field is a lot more detailed and time consuming and is very dependent on weather conditions. It is very important to make sure the dirt has the correct moisture and enough conditioner to create optimal performance of the baseball. The condition of the dirt directly impacts the way the ball moves on the field. We groom the dirt several times during the day adding water as necessary. On game days, we typically start batting practice 2.5 hours before game time so that we have time after the pre-game activities to get the field in game condition (i.e. groom, paint lines, water the field). The window of time between the pre-game activities and game time is tight and we have to be on our A game to turn it around to meet game time expectations. I truly love the game of baseball and I feel my role is to provide the best field possible for this East Carolina team so they can play their best. Providing the best field possible is an all-day affair for our crew.
What impact does the field quality have on the game?
There are a lot of reasons why field quality contributes greatly to the performance of the game of baseball. If the field isn’t properly maintained and done so with a high-level of detailed attention, it could lead to team injuries because of unsafe or sub-par conditions. You want the field to be transparent to team’s performance so they can play their best without even noticing the field. If it is transparent to the team’s performance, that speaks to the success of our role but there is a ton of work done in the background for it not to make a noise on game performance.