Game Starters: Al Capitos, superintendent of turf and maintenance

October 15, 2010

Al Capitos, superintendent of turf and maintenance. (Purdue University photo/Andrew Hancock)

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Editor's note: Before the team takes the field and the referee calls for kickoff, Purdue staff members play their part in making football games successful. Each Friday before a home game, as Ross-Ade Stadium waits to come alive with cheering Boilermakers, a staff member who is integral to game day will be featured in Purdue Today's Game Starters series. This week’s Game Starter is Al Capitos, superintendent of turf and maintenance.

As thousands of Boilermakers fill Ross-Ade Stadium this Saturday, few will wonder who placed the number on their seat or painted the train logo on the field. Al Capitos is in charge of all the little things that often go without notice to prepare the stadium. 

Whether it's painting the field or fixing a flagpole, Capitos, superintendent of turf and maintenance, and his team make sure the stadium is clean, safe and ready for game day.

What brought you to work here at Purdue?

I have a degree in turfgrass science from Penn State University. I was interested in being outside and being involved in sports. I started with the Atlanta Braves and from the Braves I went to the Baltimore Orioles. I've been here almost five years. It's not been too long but so far I love it here.

What is your role as turf and maintenance superintendent?

My role is kind of an overseer. I have a large staff of grounds and maintenance employees. We do everything from concession area maintenance and parking, to making sure all seats are numbered correctly. 

I'm responsible for all the outdoor athletic venues. I have baseball, softball, soccer, track, cross country, and indoor and outdoor football practice fields. I have all the common areas around the "Boilermaker" statue and around the buildings. I am involved with tennis a bit, but not golf. The golf has a separate superintendent.

What do  you do to prepare for game day?

It starts Thursday morning with the field painting, which takes a full day. We start early and end very late. In fact, for the opening game I know the crew was here until 11 o'clock trying to complete the painting. They start in the end zones and they paint all the white playing lines, numbers, hashes and lastly the train and Big Ten logos. 

We paint the field every home game. So we do this whole thing seven times a year.

There's some parking issues -- we go around and place parking direction signs the morning of game day. We do field set-up, put all the flags out, set up all the tables and chairs at the gates. We basically set the entire stadium up for the event. 

How many people does it take to maintain the stadium?

I have a staff of 15 and they all share a role in taking care of the stadium and painting the field.
  
We hire a lot of student help for game day cleanup. Sundays after the games, the majority of the 300 participants are Purdue students. Students with all different interests with the one common goal of cleaning up. This whole place transforms in four hours. You never know you had a football game here. It's amazing.
  
What challenges do you face during the off-season?

A part of the problem is the stadium sits for so long. We have to go through all the stadium systems to make sure they are working and functional for home games. We check electrical systems, safety systems like fire extinguishers, TV boards, heating and cooling, plumbing and we make sure all the lights are working. It's important to make sure everything checks out.
  
How is the field doing since Purdue last renovated it?

A few years ago when we renovated the field, our focus was playability. We were having problems with bluegrass. It wasn't working with our growing medium and the climate here in Indiana. Bermuda grass, which is what we switched to, is strongest at the beginning of the season.

We use the Bermuda grass as a base; it's underneath the ryegrass so what you see out there is mostly ryegrass. The Bermuda grass acts as a stabilizer for sand and the draining system below. It's an interesting system. It works well for us and everybody's been happy.

How much does the turf cost?

Surprisingly it's not all that much. The Bermuda grass grows all summer long, and other than normal operating budget, costs that we use for fuel and labor, we don't spend a whole lot of money putting grass preservatives down on it.
  
Is it chosen with surface contact in mind?

Yeah, and we had that issue three years ago when we discussed our alternatives. One of those alternatives was going to a synthetic field.  If you discussed playability with any player -- it wouldn't have to be a player at Purdue -- they always say they'd rather play on real grass. A natural grass field is traditional for football. A lot of schools have gone away from it, but I'm really happy that Purdue's stuck with it.

How did you choose what turf  to use?

This particular grass wasn't our first choice 10 years ago, but because of continued development and research that goes on at other schools and Purdue, new cultivars of Bermuda grass were developed. Concerns of ours were could it survive the climates that we deal with here at Purdue? Is it capable of surviving the harsh winters that we have? That kind of stuff has been researched here at Purdue long before we got this grass. It was very beneficial for me to go over and ask those questions to the Agronomy Department and ask if we should go with this type of grass.

How has this summer's weather affected the field?

This summer has actually been fantastic for Bermuda grass. Bermuda grass thrives in high temperatures -- the hotter the better. We have an in-ground irrigation system that helps manage growing conditions.

Does Indiana face specific challenges with our weather?

Indiana, to me (I'm not a native of Indiana), has surprisingly very hot summers. We are the furthest north school to have Bermuda on its field. So we are a bit of a pioneer right now with this grass here. With winters, we have to do things that people don't typically do with their Bermuda grass. We have to cover it, we put a big blanket over it. We do some things different because of Indiana's weather, but it doesn't inconvenience us or add a whole lot of work. It just makes it more interesting.

Do you think that there's a lot of work that goes on that people don't even think about?

The things we do to get ready are beyond what people think. We keep very busy supporting our athletic department program throughout the year.

How do you incorporate sustainability at home football games?
  
We have a very large, successful recycling program. We target both inside the stadium and outside at tailgating areas. In conjunction with the Boiler Green Initiative, a student group, and our department we have successfully collected thousands of pounds of recyclables over the past few years. It's a satisfying part of what I do here.