Behind the World Cup, a Duke Grounds Expert Helps Keep the Pitch Perfect

Scott Thompson is working with FIFA to evaluate facilities during the global tournament that ends July 19

Scott Thompson kneels in front of a suitcase of FIFA pitch equipment
Scott Thompson, Duke's Director of Landscape Services, is helping FIFA maintain practice fields in the World Cup. Photo courtesy of Scott Thompson

Scott Thompson doesn’t follow international soccer closely, but he enjoys the sport, especially when he can watch it live. And when offered the chance to be a part of the largest sporting event in the world, he didn’t hesitate to accept.

Thompson, Duke’s Director of Landscape Services in Facilities Management, is working with FIFA’s Pitch Management Team as Pitch Venue Manager for two FIFA World Cup training sites: UNC Greensboro, home to Norway’s training camp, and Charlotte FC, where Scotland is preparing for tournament matches. The FIFA World Cup began June 11 at sites in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and ends with the final match on July 19.

“I think for me, this is a unique opportunity to be able to have an event of this magnitude right here at home,” he said. “We may not see another one in our lifetimes.”

Each country’s team has a “home” practice field for early group play of the tournament and Thompson is one of a network of specialists assigned to evaluate training facilities used by the 48 World Cup teams across the three North American countries hosting the competition. His role isn’t to maintain the fields, but to make sure they meet FIFA’s exacting standards and feel roughly the same from site to site.

Scott Thompson tests World Cup field quality
Scott Thompson tests World Cup field quality

Scott Thompson, Duke's Director of Landscape Services, uses instruments to test FIFA World Cup practice quality for traction, moisture level and hardness. Photos by Kristen Thompson

For him, that means a lot of traveling to Greensboro and Charlotte – he’ll be at the sites three days a week until the end of June – and a lot of taking of photos and measuring turf quality.

Each time Thompson visits the practice fields, he measures for five qualities: traction, moisture level, surface hardness, ground cover and aesthetic maintenance.

Added together, those data points help guide grounds crews to adjust their care of the fields and inform FIFA in real time. In the time he’s worked with both crews, he said he’s “seen some highs and lows,” but both facilities are now in what he calls great shape – just in time for teams that arrived the second week of June.

“Ultimately, we just try to create some level of consistency across all these different venues,” Thompson said. “With the World Cup, you’ve got the best athletes in the world playing in this event.”

Thompson, who oversees the effort to keep Duke’s athletic fields pristine as well as maintenance of campus landscape, was selected for the role because of the expertise that he and his Landscape Services team bring to turf management. The experience is a two-way exchange, one that benefits both the global event and Duke's athletics fields as he tracks the data FIFA requires. Through all the assessment, Thompson has learned that Duke’s fields are on par with the standards that FIFA demands.

“Our team is very good at what they do,” Thompson said. “And our fields are in as good of shape as any that I’ve seen.”

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