With precision and passion, Athletic Fields of America lays the groundwork for top-tier athletic facilities
Based in the small township of Montville, New Jersey, Athletic Fields of America delivers industry-leading synthetic turf services to schools and sports facilities across the Northeast of the US. Bolstered by years of experience in the civil engineering and landscaping sectors, the business provides second-to-none turnkey services. As Executive Vice President, Phil Pirro, begins: “There are two businesses within our operation, Applied Landscape Technologies, and Athletic Fields of America. The former was founded in 1991, by a man named Paul Martino. It started off as a landscaping company: in the industry we call it ‘weeds and seeds’. The model was fairly straightforward, and everything took off from there. Paul started doing landscaping on the side of highways – and while business was booming during the spring and fall seasons, he found that he was struggling during the summer and winter months. During the summer of 1996, to make ends meet, he decided to become a general contractor.
“It started out as all kinds of work – utility maintenance, drainage, excavation, and more. Then, in 1998, Paul became involved in a town project. The site was designed to be a synthetic turf field, used for athletic tournaments and sports matches. The turf manufacturer and installer happened to go out of business over the course of the project. Paul saw an opportunity. He asked the company to send over the materials they had and taught himself how to install the turf. From that moment on, he never looked back.
“That was the first synthetic turf field he ever installed. He founded Athletic Fields of America shortly afterwards, and now the business constructs over 50 synthetic turf fields every year. We have 150 employees, and that team works on fields across New Jersey, New York, and Eastern Pennsylvania. In June 2023, we were purchased by TenCate, a 300-year-old company based in the Netherlands. In North America, it is one of the largest manufacturers of synthetic turf, so our company was acquired to provide downstream civil capability and vertical integration. Naturally, we now install TenCate manufactured turf products – it has some of the industry’s best synthetic turfs available, including its newest fourth generation non-infilled synthetic turf. It really has equipped us with some great opportunities for the future.
“Since the purchase, we’ve been able to expand our service offering. Nowadays, we’ll do anything from grandstands and bleachers, to lighting installation. We also do tennis courts, running tracks, athletic fields, natural grass fields, and sod fields. Below the surface, we provide utility services, such as earthwork, storm drainage, plumbing, and electrical work; anything that supports the site and helps it run in a safe and effective manner. That even extends to concession stands, restrooms, changing rooms, and field house facilities.
“Our crews bring a diverse level of capability and offer turn-key services to a range of clients. We do a lot of work at K-12 schools and colleges including the highest levels of the NCAA. We’ve also worked with some minor league baseball teams, and other professional sports organizations. Our client base ranges from townships to county and state governments, as well as some of New York City’s largest agencies including the DEC, DASNY, and NYC Parks. We’re vastly familiar with the requirements and standards for this kind of work, and it’s brought us a lot of success.” 
Brand awareness
Having established itself as one of the region’s foremost civil contractors, Athletic Fields of America now looks forward to the future. As Phil discusses: “We’ve recently invested more time and energy into our social media presence. This is a new venture for us, because we work primarily in the public sector, where you win contracts based on a low bidding system. However, we’ve recently branched out into cooperative contracts. These contracts work differently; we bid on a set of items, and the contract typically holds for one year – they’re commonly used by townships and municipalities but really anything related to public works contracts.
“When it comes to winning this kind of work, it helps to have a presence in the wider community. To help bring our brand into the public consciousness, we’ve been advertising quite a bit. We’ve developed marketing strategies, starting with a reboot of both our websites. We’ve also established a presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Our marketing budget has been increased to help with these efforts. The additional investment allows us to attend trade shows, where we can network with industry professionals and potential clients. We’ve even printed new business cards, with QR codes that direct people to our content.
“The work we do is interesting; it’s exciting to people. Sports facilities, stadiums, and arenas are places where people come together to enjoy their free time. The value of our work is more immediately recognizable than many conventional civil engineering projects, and we’ve leveraged that positive association to successfully build our brand.
“To produce content that really showcases our work, we’ve been using drone footage of our finished builds, which people find really engaging. Our online presence is still growing – it’s new territory for us, so we’re taking our time and looking mainly at the local area for now. That said, the response so far has been wonderful to see. Social media marketing is a key part of our long-term strategy – in time, it will help broaden our reach, as we look to expand our operation and move into new markets,” he concludes.