Jeffco North Area Athletic Complex Stadium Manager Sun Roesslein works the paint machine near one of the football endzones in preparation for a doubleheader game.
It was Friday night under the lights at the NAAC, and the feeling was electric. The NAAC is Jeffco’s North Area Athletic Complex and one of four Jeffco Public Schools’ stadiums. It is also the Sports Turf Managers Association “Field Of The Year.”
Throughout the year, this place hosts dozens of high school athletic contests and competitions, with soccer and football as the mainstays. Before the players can start to work their magic, the NAAC’s stadium team has to work theirs.
“There’s a lot that goes into it. We’re responsible for everything inside the fence,” explained Sun Roesslein, one of two NAAC stadium managers.
Roesslein tooled around in a work cart to prep for the day’s schedule.
“I absolutely have the best office in the world, hands down. I just fell in love with the work, being outside, working with my hands, being able to fix things, and creating something that is a beautiful work of art,” she said.
Her counterpart, Christy Clay, was helping to put down string lines so the football field can get freshly marked. It takes an entire day to get the field ready just for football.
“We have two football games tomorrow night, so we mowed and striped up the field this morning. Now we’re putting a fresh coat of paint out, which we do every week,” explained Roesslein. “We paint it once a week, no matter how many games we have. Our paint is high quality, so it lasts through the game. We’re getting it nice and ready to go for the games tomorrow night.”
Clay and Roesslein aim for perfection and use Sport’s Authority Field at Mile High, where the Broncos play, as their inspiration.
“I’d love it to look like the Broncos stadium every day. Their field is amazing. All the professional fields at the college level, and high school level as well, are fantastic. I just try to keep those high-quality, high-end facilities in mind,” said Roesslein.
To keep the NAAC at that caliber takes a lot of long days at work for the two stadium managers.
“For soccer, it’s pretty much the same thing. You can see all the acreage behind us. We’re just non-stop all day, every day. It’s like you run out of time every day. There’s always more to do,” explained Clay.
That hard work has paid off with national recognition. The Sports Turf Managers Association recently named the NAAC’s soccer facility “Field Of The Year”.
“We’re very, very proud of that award. It means a lot of all of our crew,” said Clay.
Roesslein echoed that sentiment.
“To be selected amongst all the applicants in the nation is definitely a huge honor. I think it goes to show how hard we work, how much we love what we do and how well supported we are,” she said.
The awards and compliments are nice, but they usually don’t have a lot of time to dwell on them. Before you know it, it’s game time. Clay and Roesslein go from turf managers to event managers with additional responsibilities.
“We are responsible for overseeing the gates, the ticket sellers, and ticket takers. All the stadium game staff. We help the administrators with crowd management. We help the officials with the things that they need to be doing, make sure that they’re protected and in a safe place,” explained Roesslein.
On those nights when they can see the end result of all their hard work really come together. That’s what really keeps them focused on making the NAAC look its best week in, and week out across the year.
“First of all, I want it to be safe for the players. Secondly, I hope when they walk in, you normally see some excitement from them; it’s a great field facility for them to play at,” said Clay. “Just to see that excitement when they first walk into the stadium; it’s like wow! Walking into the Broncos stadium first time for some of them I would imagine. It’s a great facility to be a part of; just to see the kids’ happiness, it’s good to see that on their face.”
Watch the JPS-TV version of this story here.