welcome to talk and tires the podcast that delves deep into the world of tires join us as we explore everything from the science behind the manufacturing to the latest Innovations intire recycling our aim is to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of tires including how they work how to maintain them and how to dispose of them responsibly whether you’re a season mechanic curious car Enthusiast or an avid recycler talking tires is the perfect podcast for anyone who wants to learn about the essential component of the modern vehicle and heavy equipment so buckle up and join us for an informative and engaging journey into the world of tires all right welcome to another talking tires I’m your host Craig Hunter the president of Tire reclaim and I’m here with Regan Rossi the vice president of Athletics here at the College of Idaho and you might be wondering why would Craig be talking to the vice president of Athletics College of Idaho and it happens to be because of what we’re sitting on right now so this is the new field Turf for uh College of Idaho Athletics program the football field or I guess Sofer

field lacrosse track and field could be a lot of different things but we know it as the football field but we had a couple other fields the softball field the baseball field and we got a lot to talk about that and we really just wanted to get in the mind of some of the decision- making behind that and uh welcome Regan oh thanks for having me today appreciate it yeah so uh a couple things just for you real quick there’s been a lot of success a lot of talk lately so you just got a a new position um we’ve seen you as the uh 2223 kushman and here I got a read and Wakefield athletic director of the year and uh lots of awards and and recognition going your way for different things in the Athletics program and I’d say congratulations to that but um most recently what is the new position that that I read about uh so I’ll be this this next academic Year I’ll be the president for the nii uh athletic Directors Association um so we have a we have a board made up of uh a representative from each

Athletic Conference across the country and then uh an executive group and so I’ve kind of you know worked my way up from third vice president second first to president this year and um excited to serve in that role uh get to work with a lot of great people from our partners at NAA our partners at the ni and then just anytime you can work with your peers yes uh and try and get everybody going in the same direction for the betterment of of all our organizations um it’s an exciting time well that you know that leads right into something I was thinking about the the turf itself and and making those decisions and and how do we you know align uh talking tires and tires well we’re we’re sitting on a recycled product which is amazing to me um I’ve learned over time and I have a little backstory it’s funny that so we’re recycling tires at Tire reclaim we’re based in college or in Caldwell Idaho which is where this college is located and we were um quoting they told me right away when we started to do this we’re fairly new company

you’re going to have to quote jobs all over the country uh I was sending out you know quotes for for the crumb rubber recycled product to ship to Georgia to sh to Sparks Nevada to uh but Montana and then I get one that’s cwell Idaho and I thought what a fit this is right in our backyard so we’ve got to go out and talk about this we got to know how what what came into that decision making so um sustainability for us is very important education program is there anything that you can tell me um when you were making this decision when they were coming to you what were some of the things that they were talking about I’m sure you know um athlete health things like that right or yeah so as you know the shelf life of turf is 10 to 12 years about um and I think anytime you’ve got a feel that is as as you mentioned is used by our men’s soccer our women’s soccer our lacrosse programs um you know in the winter we’ll get softball out here uh you’ll get track and field out here and so

it’s a high use property um and I think you know you’ve got to pay attention to how you maintain it and and eventually you just have to replace it and so for us um you know trying to life cycle plan a little bit can be challenging at at small private schools uh funding’s always going to be a challenge um so one of the things we talked about is how do how do we get the most bang for our buck right um and so we applied for a grant uh so that was that came through that was really important uh to work with this grant company and then worked with the mayor in city council uh this property is actually owned by the city so we lease it as as is Wolf field our baseball facility and so to be able to work with them to make the improvements that we know are necessary and need to happen um you can’t you can’t put a price day on that kind of partnership uh and then to find out I you and I talked as we talked about a year ago yeah um and then we

we’d work with this grant company and kind of talked about like we’d love to use this and they said well we use our partners and then to come to find out you are the partner um so that was that was great anytime we can do things local is a big deal for us uh this community is a special Community they support us I mean you’ve been to football games there there’s no better crowd in the ni than what college of Idaho gets for our for our football games for our basketball games um these this this partnership with this community um we couldn’t do it without them and so to know that we got to use one a grant company from the Pacific Northwest uh use local reclaim rubber talking about sustainability talking about recycling uh I I think all those pieces just make this really an unbelievable project to be able to do watch from from beginning to end working with our partners at lure construction um so just getting it all together mhm and keeping it local that’s a big deal for us yeah I couldn’t agree more and it was it was

interesting because you say local community my son is on the team so yes I’m at every game yeah he’s okay I guess pay yeah you’ll keep him around I suppose his senior year this year we’re excited you know we’ve been here watching and building up to this I’m like son you’re getting a new tur you know and I’ve been saying it for a year right and he’s like yeah okay Dad you know I’m just the the the Charlie Brown sound in the background w w w but I really think that they’re going to notice a difference there there seems to be a springing or bounce to the step and that that can’t be a bad thing in athletics no it’s fantastic uh we’ve had we’ve had some guys out here already and every time I see them they’re very appreciative uh very grateful for the investment that the college and the city have have made into this facility um you know obviously they love it they’re like man it is springy it’s so nice and it’s soft and we get to cut and we get to move we when we fall we don’t feel

like we’re hitting hard and um and and so for safety sake that that’s always a big deal you always hear a lot about whether or not you should be doing turf or grass or whatever right um and we just feel like again with the high use of this this facility Turf is where we need to be uh we don’t have the the manpower to turn over a grass field every week and if you end up with a a mud ball right you can’t we can’t get that so again community so my wife went to high school here she was in uh drill team band and she says all I know is that when it rained out there it was muddy and terrible course I’m not going to date her and say what year that was yeah I proba Sav myself there but it was Turf when we got here but that turf was obviously 10 years old so it was pretty rough from what we could see so it’s exciting to have this ability it makes the team faster it makes the team a you know if it gives you a little bit of

edge but I do know I think this is uh is now every field in the Nia or at least in your division will be Turf is that fair yes I think kol college finished their field this year year y uh Montan Tech is rfing this year uh up in BU as as you mentioned um Montana Western is moving to Turf and Mont Montana State Northern moved to Turf I think two years ago okay um and so I think yeah I think for the frontier conference we are all turf fields now was that part did so did you just kind of assume like well I should probably just go that way or did you know we first started looking at it again we talked about how are we going to use this and to use it year round and to know that you’re going to do Spring ball out here and you’re going to have lacrosse out here in the spring and um you know weather in the in the north can be challenging but the turf makes it so we can actually we can move snow off this when we need to move snow

well in consistency you know I interviewed one of the players on the base or yeah on the baseball field at wolfield and uh he said you know it’s with dirt you don’t really know what you’re going to get somebody maybe was standing there with their cleat and made a little Groove and then the ball hits that just right he’s like when we play Turf everything’s the same everyone’s the same no bad bounces yes no bad bounces exactly so that’s a perfect ter but the ball will come off it differently uh but again like you said consistency once you learn to play on the turf and you’re you’re used to it um I think I think it’ll be really different for our softball team uh they have this is a new turf field for them they have not played I mean they’ve played some games on Turf um around the country but not every day and so it it’ll be different for them but I think it’s a a really good change for them something that you know we needed to do we’re we’re continuing to try to make improvements over at the softball field

that’s kind of our next area to Contin continue to grow um and I think that it’s really they spend so much time working the field and trying to get the dirt right perfect the perfect and then and that’s manour man hour if you take it I mentioned the business s so we come obviously from the business and you coming from the University and I think it’s a great opportunity for you know University and business to come together like you said as a community um but business is always a factor right so you have a how many man hours would it take to to do something like this right and just to be able to Manicure it like you said week in and week out and get it perfect well I think I think it’s great what you’re doing here the um the other thing I wanted to follow up on was the uh contributing factor so this is obviously a major investment and you have you know the whole city behind you what were some of the um was there any push back anybody ever uh talked bad about turf or did you ever

have anyone say why aren’t we on grass and no we’ we’ve not had any push back um the like I said going to make a presentation to to city council um they were very supportive they’ve always been very supportive of what we’ve done uh when we started football you know we’re going on 11 years now uh the city was all in and we couldn’t do it without the city uh and so as you we’ve had a change in mayor since then we’ve had Change in city council members but the consistent support has not changed which has been fantastic for us and so as we talked about replacing this and then replacing wolf at the same time and I think for us to be able to do both the city facilities and the softball facility which is actually on campus all at the same time made it a lot actually more affordable um oh makes sense everybody’s already here everybody’s already here getting the groups into to do the work um buying a little bit more in bulk saves you a little bit more shipping is a little bit less and um and so there

was never any push back there was a lot of excitement you know being able to work with with our presidents um Doug Brigham and Jim Everett our our CFO Richard n um you it’s a group effort nothing happens alone uh and so to be able to work with them and get their support in this and get their help as we figure out how to finance this how do we pay the bills and how do we you know how do we get everything dialed in um it’s it’s not just us right um I’ve got you know coaches who were helping out you know over at baseball you know the baseball coaches they’re always involved and so they were there softball alond diola Austin bich here our associate ad he’s really been running point on this a lot and uh so it’s just te and helping yeah yeah and I noticed Austin helping with timing a lot because to have these three facilities and to get in and still have the events you know we had the Special Olympics events that was just back in one spot and then you know there’s a few different things

that happened and I’ll you know attribute to Austin to keep things moving it seemed like it flowed pretty good yeah he did a great job with that I think there’s nobody happier that it’s done than him yes I can I could see that but there are a lot of moving parts and anytime you’re dealing with construction and contractors and uh you know the group we were working with got delayed on a job in California as you mentioned so that delayed the start here a couple weeks so then we had to shift to baseball really quick CU we had the saw two socky starting uh and so the the timing was timing was what it was we’re done but we’re done and everything’s ready to go for the year and we’re really excited and and everybody was you know working with the group that did the install they were really flexible with us and they were great to work with and they they were good at at communicating when they got here what they needed when they needed help when they needed extra people um that’s really good for us to hear and our suppliers

they’ll be happy to hear that yeah it was it was like I said it it’s not just one person it’s not just the College of Idaho it is working with you it’s working with the installers it’s working with you know the guys kind of on the backside of the grant right uh working with the city so anytime you can build that good solid team around you um things like this happen and you people come to me and thank me I didn’t do anything right I I I helped facilitate I did a couple presentations um but at the end of the day there’s a lot of people that need to be thanked for this and a lot of people that supported this and you when we fill these stands you’re going to see it you’re going to see the people who are appreciative of of what we do in terms of our student athletes and um you know what we do as as an institution what we do in the community and so to be able to do all that really is it makes the College of Idaho a special place well and I’m sure

you’re very proud of your student athletes with the amount of success I mean you could touch on it I there’s no way I could remember on of them but we’ve got some championships to note right so you had basketball again men’s basketball won uh a year ago women’s cross country won this last year uh we’ve had some individual champions in uh track um Ellie tingle said actually yesterday women’s cross country academic athlete of the year um Fant it’s it’s unbelievable what ourl easy for you to put in the hours do when they’re out there holding up their end of the deal as well right somebody asked me last night uh you know how did you get in an athletic Administration I said you know kind of talked about my path and everything I said but and then he asked well how long are you going to keep doing it I said as long as I can continue to put our coaches and our our teams in a position to be successful in everything that we do from academics to Athletics to community service to um you know leadership as long as I can continue

to do that man we’ve got a really good thing going here and I think that’s what shows with our coaches and our student athletes like we can do this for a long time this is a sustainable model that’s a good answer um and and we we were talking about it the other day over the last 5 years we’ve had over a thousand academic Awards for our student athletes wow and that’s really you know that’s where the the rubber meets the road for better the rubber meets the turf right I’ll save that one yeah um but when we did the first visit with my son and they told me I I I don’t want to quote it wrong but I want to say like a 93% job placement right the academic side of things is really the foundation of the school and that too is is stellar and above board right everything has just been phenomenal from Athletics and from the academic side of the College of Idaho from my experience as a dad you know helping pay for and we love to hear that from parents you know um every time we meet with

recruits we kind of talk about you know being a part of their kids Journey right and to even be considered is a big deal and then for four years you know these are such formative times of the student athletes life they get to decide what you know what Mom and Dad have taught them at home what we’re teaching them here at the college what our coaches and our teams are teaching them and they’re really forming who they’re going to be for the rest of their life and we get to be a special part of that and that’s a big deal for us to be one considered two when they choose us and three when they when they finish and they walk across that stage at graduation you know we get all have a little smile on her face because we know that we were a big part of that I asked the the why question every podcast of my guests is why you know why do you swing your legs out of bed in the morning I think you kind of just answered it right the last 30 seconds or so you you’re talking

about your why is that fair to say h absolutely it’s again if we can continue I very much believe in servant leadership if we can continue to serve and we can continue to serve our coaches our students our College our community then we’re doing the right thing if we if we Veer off of that then the model doesn’t work um you know we’ve we’ve built this on finding student athletes that fit the institution and fit our programs um you know we’ll have students that that don’t fit and we said well this is you know could be a Difference Maker on the field on the court in pool on the track but if they don’t fit the institution then it’s not right for them and it’s not right for us and so I think so I think it’s very fair and very um almost more kind to say hey this is this is probably not it for you um but when it is it man there’s no better feeling I always tell students I want you to have that feeling of this is home I want it to be home for the next four years

um because that’s important to us that you feel that you feel that family you feel that connection um because this is things get hard they they I challenge them to grow in the uncomfortable I I tell recruits all the time like tell the parents they’re going to call they’re not going to like us your job is to love them listen and kick them back to us because this this is where they grow and that’s that’s an exciting time to be a part of their lives that’s good to hear I like to hear that as from a parents perspective I like to hear that as well all right so future plans I’m sure you guys are ready to take some time to yourselves but I I’ve heard my wife of course she says are they going to get big stands that W all the way around like BSU said honey I think it took an Act of God to get what we’ve got so let’s let’s be patient but I’m sure you have some future plans you have something com we do we do have future plans um we just wrapped up obviously the three

Turf projects um we redid the gym floor this year new wood new bleachers that are actually going in as we speak um we’re going to start resurfacing the pool starting tomorrow um so we’ve had a lot of of big project we put in four beach volleyball courts this last fall um so we’ve had a lot of projects this year um very fortunate that college has been supportive of us kind of pushing all these things forward didn’t want to do them all at the same time but sometimes time is unavoidable right um as for this particular facility you know working with the mayor um we’ve got some thoughts and plans of what we would like to see so on this side we would love to have kind of um a locker room meeting room area that could could house the officials give us a little bit more storage um and I think when we talk about that we also have to talk about the rodeo and the fair because we partner with them on a lot of things too we share facilities obviously on this side down here we’ve got the the Beer Garden in

the rodeo Grand yeah well the the rodeo guys could probably utilize a a locker room just the same so what you’re talking about and the fair would love to have something over there where they could have access to showers um and so it’s a fa that all three of us would like and I think the city would like it the city’s been hosting like this year they’re going to host the Cowell Valley View game again that’s a huge deal for this community to get that game back at Simplot Stadium that’s cool um so they they hosted last year for the first time so they’re going to be back out here but they don’t necessarily have locker room facilities if it’s a rainy night it’s going to be a little bit miserable for everybody uh halftime not being able to get out of the weather yeah and you see them and they’re pulled over there sh sh over there and we go over to Conor um so working on that would be kind of our next project for over here um you know that’s going to be a couple million dollar investment Yeah couple million

dooll investment from from probably us and the partners and um so we’ll just kind of see how that plays out is is that that also maybe something you’ll be looking for Grants and or will there be maybe bonds or anything like that we won’t bond that out um but I think that’s something that we can we do have you know we pay into an account as does the city towards this property um so we can continue to make improvements so I think that’s something we’ll look at together obviously visit with city council and decide you know is this a priority for the city um it’s a priority for me but I can’t do it alone I I don’t really own the property um get and so you know what what would that do for the rodeo would they be willing to invest in that what does that do for the fair would they be willing to you know so just starting those conversations right now um but I know it’s it’s a facility we’d all like to see happen um but nothing’s easy and and the city’s got priorities and we’ll just see where

it falls on the priority list but um that’s something we’ve talked about for a while maybe we’ll have some new molded Construction Products that you can utilize on the building by the time there you go I love it well I sure appreciate you coming on is there anything else you wanted to talk about while you’re on a podcast with a tire guy no I I mean I’m sure I got a couple tires that are probably in here I would guess yes um so I that’s one thing that you know I wanted to ask you about like when we first talked I was trying to tell you what we did and it’s it’s really hard to explain to someone to that doesn’t understand that the infill comes from tires being shredded and that 25% of your tire is steel a lot of people don’t realize that so it’s a major facility that’s you know like I said only a couple miles from here the road um but it’s shredding with you know Giant raspers and cracker Mill that’s taking that tire down to this fine of a product and we’re going to get some shots

of it here in a minute and we’ll have it on the podcast um but now you knowing that these tires may have come from you know if you get your tires at Costco or you know even L Schwab or Commercial Tire any of those tires we went and picked them up uh We’ve recycled those and we’ve made this product so now knowing that how does that make you feel well it gets back to community I mean at the end of the day we’re going to have people sitting in these stands who whose tires are literally on our field right yep yep and and so to know that you’re getting it locally right it locally they continue to to to invest in Us in ways they don’t even know that they’re doing right if we can continue to do that continue our our our partnership which we I think we’re going to have a long lasting partnership now AG that this is going to be this is going to be fantastic for the community for our student athletes um like I said and for our fans to know that they are in some way giving

back um that’s pretty special that is special well I look forward to being under the lights for the first game right yep excited about that yeah we get to see those colors pop under the lights for the first game I think first two games are also this heat won’t be such a factor on the lights so I hope not it’s going to be fun so thanks for being on thanks for me I appreciate and appreciate the putting the turf down no thank you