For the past five years, the Michigan State University professor of turfgrass research has been consumed by a problem few people ever think about but one that will be tested on the world's biggest stage. How do you make turfgrass — real, living grass carefully grown and managed for elite play — perform consistently in every stadium across vastly different climates?
"Consistency at the World Cup isn't accidental — it's engineered from the ground up," Rogers says. "To make sure 16 different stadiums in three different climates play the same, we had to control everything from the exact mix of grasses, how the surface is built and reinforced, and the turf and soil specifications so the field is ready to perform and recover after every match."
For Rogers, the challenge is both new and familiar.