Three years ago the Southeast High School football field was in bad shape.  A disease hit the Bermuda grass and with dry weather the field became almost like concrete.  It was an eyesore for those who came to watch.  It was a safety hazard for those playing on it.

With the help of a field specialist a plan was set in motion.

“I still follow a plan each year on what to do on taking care of this field,” says Craig Biancarelli.  “We got all the disease killed and I put a lot of time, we put a lot of fertilizer-chemical, everything, on here to keep it in good shape, and look at it now.  Three years later it’s like a golf course.  It’s beautiful.”

Biancarelli says the Bermuda grass loves the hot weather.  They water the field every other night and it can grow ¼ to ½ an inch every day.  During the football season Biancarelli mows the field every other day, with the blade set to 1 ¾ of an inch.  The frequent mowing keeps the grass short and helps the grass to spread out more, making it grow in thicker and be more of a cushion.

“These guys work hard on this turf,” says Ron Maring, an Athletic Field Specialist at Arlan Company based in Leawood.  “It was a tough summer to grow Bermuda grass because our soil temperatures were down so low most of the summer, but these guys did a good job working on this field and it’s very healthy and it looks great.  The main thing is, on this field, they made it so safe for the players.  They’ve done all the correct steps to keep it soft.  We want it to look good but we want it safe for all the participants.”

Soil samples, water and a lot of mowing.  All to make sure the field itself looks good to spectators and is safe for the student-athletes who play on it.

“The more you mow Bermuda the better it grows, the faster it heals itself,” Maring says.  “So during the football season you’re mowing it quite a bit because we want side growth instead of up growth for repair and to have it ready for the football season and throughout the football season while it’s getting tremendous wear and tear on it.  We’re forcing that Bermuda to grow sideways instead of up.”

“When it’s football season we take care of this baby – it’s got to be great for the kids playing on it,” says Biancarelli.  “You can feel it – you can run barefoot through here, and I just hope that for years to come, now that we’re on top of it and everything is in shape we just want to keep it in shape.  Each year do the same thing and add a little bit more to it, whatever it needs.”

Biancarelli runs the chain gang during games and admits he loves to hear referees complimenting how soft the field is.  But maintaining the grass is just the beginning.

“We put our new big Lancer head out there last year but this year we’re adding a little bit more to it,” says Biancarelli.  “(We are) putting ‘SE’ in each corner and it will really top it off and look good I think, because I want the best looking natural grass field in CNC.”

The football field has metal washers in place to mark the far corners.  These metal markers help Biancarelli and Rick Grotheer determine the exact location of these items.  But because the grass grows over the washers at the end of the football season Biancarelli puts caps over them.

As football season approaches and it’s time to mark the field Biancarelli and Grotheer begin by using a metal detector to find these markers, placing flags in the washers as they find them.  They start with the far corners of the field and flag them.  Biancarelli and Grotheer say that with the rules and regulations, the outside has to be perfectly square.

“If you don’t have your corners right it can get oblong,” Grotheer says.

“And me and Rick’s got it right on,” says Biancarelli.

From there, the two say it is easy but time consuming.

They run string around the outside of the field.  Then they find the goal lines and the five yard lines and flag those.

“One guy will get on one side (of the field) and one guy will get on the other and we’ll go to every flag, paint it, move the line over, paint it, then move the line over,” says Grotheer.

Then it’s on to the hash lines.  Finally, 27 feet from the sideline they find the numbers.

Biancarelli and Grotheer say the first time each season takes the longest:  Find the markers, string it, and then paint it.  It used to take around 29 buckets of paint for the field.  Now, they use about 16 buckets of field paint.  The entire process can take at least six hours, usually spread out over multiple days depending on how hot it is.  From then on it will take anywhere from four to five hours to paint the field each week.

That time doesn’t include the logos.

2013 was the first season the Lancer logo was put on the field.  But there were a few complaints.  Because of the plume, the logo appeared to be off-center.

Maring explains that with most logos the middle of the stencil is dead center on the 50 yard line.

“People thought that we didn’t line it up right last year,” says Maring.  “Last year we laid the stencil correctly in the middle of the field.  (This year) the way this head is, we’re going to put the middle of the head at the 50.”

The stencil for Lancer logo is 24 feet wide and 32 feet tall.

“This is the same size as all the NFL ones and major college logos in the middle,” says Ron.  “NASCAR, because of the big venue, those stencils are huge.  They’re about the size of a football field.”

The outline on the stencil has cutouts called moon slits.  Maring and Biancarelli spray a little paint in each cutout and then remove the tarp.  They have to make sure every cutout has been sprayed because once the stencil comes up it cannot be put back into place.

The paint used is specifically for the natural grass.

“It’s natural grass turf paint, which does not harm the grass and it does not harm any uniforms or anything like that,” says Maring.  “What happens is that people use non natural grass turf paint, then you can damage the grass.”

With the stencil lined out and the tarp out of the way Maring plays a large scale version of connect the dots.

 “The guard with that loop makes it interesting but it turns out nice – I think the addition of the SE logo is really going to make it look really nice,” says Maring.  “It will make it look like a professional football field no doubt.”

The first time, it takes the three men about six hours to outline and paint the Lancer logo and the “SE” logos in all four corners.  Each week from then on Biancarelli and Grotheer have to repaint the field even if there isn’t a home game.  Since the field is mowed every other day the paint is clipped off and the logos fade.  Painting the field every week makes the logos easier to see.

About a week before the first varsity game liquid iron is put on the field.  It is not coloring.  It is a liquid fertilizer that feeds the grass and gives it a crisp green color.

The field at Southeast is just one of many Maring helps with.  Other high schools he helps with include Altamont, Fort Scott, Frontenac, Girard, Oswego and Parsons.  They also work high school softball and soccer fields in Missouri, as well as do off-season field work for college baseball and softball.

The first game at the Southeast High School field will be a Junior Varsity game against Baxter Springs on Monday night.