Lawrence, Kansas, United States: Recognising the critical importance of mental health and wellness for golf course management professionals, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) has developed an inspiring and educational session for the 2023 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show.

Entitled ‘No one is an island: A guide to health and mental wellness at CTS’, the event is open to all trade show attendees at 1:15 pm on February 9 on the Interactive Grass Stage of the trade show.

It will feature experts and GCSAA members offering valuable education that includes:

• Ways to identify when they may need assistance.
• How to recognise when others on their team could use help.
• The triggers inherent among turf grass professionals’ behaviour affecting others. 

The panel will be led by GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans, who will share how this issue affects the turfgrass industry. He will lead the panel in a round robin of questions and answers, which will conclude with an overview of resources available from GCSAA to help members. 

The panel includes: 

• Jim Croxton, CEO British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA), sharing how the United Kingdom is dealing with the similar challenges faced in the US. 
• Lori A. Hoffner, expert in mental health and President of Supporting CommUnity, offering a roadmap to understand the signs indicating when you should reach out for assistance and resources to help. She will focus on resiliency, discuss the resistance to seek assistance and ignore signs of stress, and then provide resources available to ‘take care of yourself’.
• Miranda Robinson, a GCSAA member, Operations Manager for the British Columba Golf Superintendents Association and Communications Manager for the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association, will show how to identify when someone on your team may need help and how to approach them. She will share her story of helping herself and others.
• GCSAA Past President Pete Grass, Superintendent at Hilands Golf Club, offers his experience of identifying how the perfectionist and detail-oriented work of superintendents creates a mental health challenge.

“Mental health is a critical part of an overall wellness regimen, and this session was designed to offer insights you can apply toward your own wellness and to help others,” said Evans.

“It’s important to attend, not just for yourself, but to learn how to recognise when those around you are in need.”

To register to attend the 2023 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show and learn more about this added session go to www.GCSAAConference.com