UF honored for work on athletic fields

October 23, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Pioneer Athletics recently announced that the University of Florida’s department of Recreational Sports Maintenance staff has been selected as a winner of the 2008 Field of Excellence Award.

Wayne Zurburg, UF maintenance supervisor, and his team will be accepting the award at 3 p.m. on Oct. 23 at the University Village South Fields. Oct. 23 marks the start of Swamp Bowl weekend, an extramural flag football tournament that attracts intramural sports teams from all over the Southeast. Also on Oct. 23, a new Swamp Bowl 2009 field painting design will be unveiled.

As a winner, the department of Recreational Sports will receive a certificate of recognition and a Field of Excellence banner.

“Excellence in athletic field maintenance goes unrecognized and often, unappreciated,” said Pioneer Athletics. “The Field of Excellence Award program honors outstanding athletic fields and the hardworking field crews who diligently maintain them.”

The Field of Excellence Award Program was established in 1998 and has honored more than 315 athletic fields from around the country, since its creation.

Zurburg and his staff were selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants from colleges, universities, high schools, and parks and recreation departments throughout the U.S. The rigorous judging process yielded 38 winners from a large pool of applicants, with two athletic fields randomly selected as scholarship winners.