Chad Kropff

Sports Turf & Outdoor Facilities Manager
chadk66@vt.edu
phone: 540-231-1467
fax: 540-231-6273
Address: 142 McComas Hall (0358) Blacksburg, VA 24061

Chad joined the Department of Recreational Sports in September 2009. He is an active member of the Sports Turf Management Association (STMA) and Virginia Turfgrass Council (VTC). Chad graduated from Salem High School and attended Ferrum College where he played varsity baseball. He began his field maintenance career with Salem's minor league baseball franchise. Chad moved to Florida to work as a field crew member at the West Palm Beach Spring Training home of the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos. In 1996 Chad was recruited to be on the opening Sportscape team at Disney’s Wide World of Sports (DWWS). He was later promoted to Sportscape manager in charge of the Atlanta Braves spring training fields, as well as all DWWS baseball, softball, and youth fields. In 2000, Chad became the head groundskeeper for Baseball City, the Spring Training home for the Kansas City Royals. In 2002, Chad and his wife, Cathy, relocated back to his hometown of Salem, VA to be closer to family and worked as the sports fields maintenance supervisor for the Roanoke City Parks & Recreation. Chad took a break from fields from 2005-2006 and he graduated from NASCAR Technical Institute (NTI) with a Mechanical Certification in 2006. After graduating from NTI, he returned to sports fields work as the maintenance supervisor for the Botetourt County Parks & Recreation prior to coming to Virginia Tech. Chad has a registered Techspray License and a Class A-Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). Chad is also an independent sports fields contractor with Brinkman Group, LTD and travels twice a year to help renovate and prepare fields for international major league baseball events such as the World Baseball Classic in San Juan, PR and the World Baseball Cup in Amsterdam. In his spare time, he enjoys mowing the grass, playing golf, and spending time with family and friends. Chad also coaches his nephew Zach’s youth basketball team and his niece MacKenzie’s youth basketball team in the winter.

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