▲ Hanwha and NC team employees at ground management training course in Philadelphia Spring Camp, Florida


At the end of February, when Hanwha and the NC Squadron were engaged in all-out training in Arizona, the team's operations team headed for Florida, which is the opposite of Arizona. Departure from Incheon and after 16 hours of flight, Spectrum Field is located in Clearwater. It was a spring camp training ground in Philadelphia Phillies.

Hanwha Lee Jae-heon, NC Yoon Seok-joon and Yoon Ji-hoon, managers, completed a one-week field management training program at Spectrum Field. Hanwha Park, Jeong-gyu, who is preparing to build a new stadium, decided that he needed to learn the major league stadium management know-how. NC, which operates Changwon NC Park, the highest level in Korea, dispatched two employees for better stadium management. Boston-based construction management consulting firm Vee Consults, LCC, has linked the three with the Philadelphia team. (In addition to Hanwha and NC employees, Japanese Toyo Green employees who manage Tokyo Dome, Sapporo Dome, and Jojo Marine Stadium were also trained.)
The training program began with observation, participated in, and entered the pilot game in Philadelphia. Opie Cheek, head of spectral field grounds, led the education. He is one of the top experts in ground management, winning two Groundkeepers of the Year, both major and minor leagues.
NC Seok-joon, manager of NC, said, “To be precise, the spectrum field is a minor league stadium. But the managers, equipment, and programs are all better equipped than domestic teams.” "We use two varieties, and the well-controlled soil does not break after the race, leaving only spike marks, so there seems to be very few irregular bounds."

Hanwha Lee Jae-heon said, "When the new stadium is completed, a certain stadium management system is needed. I went to receive training with great responsibility." "It is a minor league stadium, but it operates everything in detail. It was easy to use for the purpose of using it as a product. I felt that everything was optimized. "

Manager Yoon Seok-jun and Lee Jae-hun said they were impressed by the 'professional' part of ground management.
Yoon Seok-jun said, "Unlike the KBO League, where the supervisor decides whether to play a game, the U.S. is decided by the referees and the head groundkeepers." And the atmosphere of respect for the area was impressive. Just by seeing the Philadelphia team make Mr. Opi Chic's bubblehead dolls, we can see their status. ”

Lee Jae-heon said, “The most amazing scene was that the ground keeper had a photo meeting with the operations team. When the head ground keeper announced that he could not use the ground for maintenance, the coaching staff and the team accepted the opinion. I definitely felt it was a baseball and other culture that went back to the mainstream. ”

Ground management is becoming more important in modern baseball. It plays an important role in showing good performance and can also prevent injuries of players. If Hanwha and NC teams get good results from this training, other teams will be more aware of the importance of ground management. I'm looking forward to seeing professional baseball truly become a 'pro'.
PS. Florida Spring Camp News Map I am very interested in training ground management at the professional baseball front in Korea.