The Toro Company has announced the winner of their annual Super Bowl Sports Turfgrass Training Program. Blake Bernstein, a sports turf management major at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California, will travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to assist the grounds crew in field preparations for Super Bowl LII in February 2018.

To be considered, students must be in at least the second year of a two-year turfgrass program, or the junior year of a four-year turfgrass program. Developed to recognize one student who has shown exemplary leadership in turfgrass management, the program encourages emerging professionals to further grow their knowledge base by assisting the grounds crew for this high-profile game.

Bernstein will work alongside NFL field director Ed Mangan, groundskeeper George Toma, and the Super Bowl grounds crew at U.S. Bank Stadium on turfgrass maintenance, logo painting, field preparation for media day, halftime preparation and field clean-up.

"Sports have been a passion for me my entire life," said Bernstein. "I consider myself incredibly lucky to work in this environment on a daily basis. Being able to help prepare the field for the biggest game in football is just an amazing opportunity, and I can't wait to be on site helping out, learning and taking it all in."

Bernstein is on track to graduate in 2018. In addition to being on the grounds crew at several Los Angeles sports facilities, he is the director of procurement, cultivation and design at the Bishop Gooden Center in Pasadena, California. Bernstein also holds a degree in business from Arizona State University.

"We're pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to a student who has dedicated their education and future career to turfgrass management," says Boyd Montgomery, CSE, CSFM, regional business manager at Toro. "Blake continues an excellent tradition of having driven, passionate students working alongside some of the best in the industry to refine their craft on a global stage during the biggest game in football."