NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Sports Field Management Association (SFMA) announced its 2025 Field of the Year award winners this week, and Kelchner Field at TowneBank Stadium, home of the Captains, was selected the Field of the Year at the collegiate level. This prestigious award spotlights the individuals and programs that excelled this year in providing quality, safe playing surfaces.
Christopher Newport's Chris Webb, Associate Director of Grounds, leads the effort for the care and upkeep of CNU's home fields, and Kelchner Field is one of a diminishing group of real grass football fields remaining in the country. Every year, SFMA presents the industry's highest honor to members who manage baseball, football, soccer, softball, and other sporting grounds at the professional, collegiate, school (K-12), and parks and recreation levels.
"We are beyond fortunate to have Chris and his colleagues working tirelessly to prepare Kelchner Field for competition," Director of Athletics Kyle McMullin said. "I am so pleased to know that their outstanding work is being recognized for what it is...the best in the country."
Webb, who holds degrees from Virginia Tech in Crop & Soil Sciences and Horticulture, has had a big hand in the beauty of the CNU campus for the last 13 years. It is his third honor from the Sport Field Managers Association as one of the nation's "Field of the Year" winners. The SFMA award is considered the highest honor in the industry at the collegiate level.
"The surface that our student-athletes compete on can easily be overlooked and taken for granted," McMullin continued. "We are incredibly fortunate to have a team of professionals who put our students on world class surfaces and make Kelchner Field second to none."
"The awards mean a great deal to me," Webb said. "I have been so blessed to have a great team to work with here at Christopher Newport. Being recognized by our peers and the community for the hard work means a lot and I can't say enough about the amazing team we have in the Grounds department."
Click HERE for the complete list of accolades from the SFMA.
