Georgia-Based Sports Turf Company Named Field Builder of the Year

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Tuesday, July 14th, 2015

Sports Turf Company, Inc., a Whitesburg, Georgia-based sports field construction company, was named 2014 Sportsfield Builder of the Year by SportsField Management Magazine at the Annual Technical Meeting of the American Sportsfield Builder’s Association (ASBA) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. 

Sports Turf President, Aaron McWhorter, and Vice-President, Dan Wright, were in attendance at the December meeting to accept this inaugural award on behalf of the company. 

The Sportsfield Builder of the Year honor is awarded by SportsField Management magazine based on many criteria, including company history, scope and details of past projects, employee training and certification, company sponsored volunteer and community service work, and the technical and environmental details of major recent projects. 

McWhorter, who grew up on his family’s dairy farm and coached high school football, started Sports Turf in 1991. The company grew steadily, building and renovating running tracks and baseball, softball, football, tennis, and soccer fields. Today, they are a full service general contracting company, offering laser-assisted grading, irrigation, and storm water management, as well as on-site construction of concession, office, and parking facilities.

Sports Turf is an active member of the American Sportsfield Builders Association, which was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Fort Hill, Maryland. “Our ASBA membership allows us to keep tabs on the latest technologies and methodologies in both natural and synthetic field construction,” says Wright. “And their professional development and continuing education programs are second to none.” For more about ASBA, please visit http://www.sportsbuilders.org

Many members of the Sports Turf team hold advanced certifications in field or track construction from ASBA. Certified Field Builders include Aaron McWhorter, Dan Wright, Todd Weber, Jason Hester, and Joe Williamson. Mark Becker is a Certified Track Builder. Lead project managers, Bill Pronevitch and Todd Wiggins, are dual certified in both Track and Field construction. 

In 1994, Sports Turf won the bid for construction of the 1996 Olympic softball field complex in Columbus, Georgia. “That project jump-started us,” says Wright. “People everywhere saw the quality of the work we can do.” 

2104 project highlights include: track resurfacing at the Alabama School for the Deaf and Blind; construction of a synthetic turf shooting range for the US Army base in Fort Benning, Georgia; renovations to the baseball field at Mississippi State University; softball field renovations at Oregon Park in Marietta, Georgia; construction of 4 synthetic recreational football fields for Forsyth County, Georgia; and renovation or construction of tracks and fields at 18 public and private high schools throughout Georgia. 

To date, Sports Turf has completed more than 800 construction and renovation projects in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Projects range from youth baseball fields and high school tracks to the Atlanta Falcon’s training facility and SEC college football fields. Annual revenues top $10 million.

“We were honored to receive the first Sportsfield Builder of the Year award on behalf of everyone at Sports Turf,” explains McWhorter. “But, there are so many people involved in making this company run. We all work together. We truly are a team.” 

“Our goal is to make sure every customer receives ‘Cadillac-like’ customer service,” adds McWhorter. “It’s about treating people they way you would want to be treated and giving them the products they want.”

SportsField Management magazine is published monthly and will be accepting nominations for their 2015 Field Builder of the Year Award soon. Nomination applications will be available on their website http://www.sportsfieldmanagementmagazine.com/.