Deming, New Mexico, Turns Field Maintenance Into Community Pride
When Richard Fosha and Carlos Jaquez started maintaining athletic fields for Deming Public Schools eight years ago, they were thrown to the wolves with string lines, stencils, and basically no training. As Richard puts it, they were "complete greenhorns."
Getting a regulation field ready for Friday night games meant starting on Monday. Cutting grass, measuring distances from old papers that made little sense, running string lines, hauling massive plastic stencils across the field, riding paint machines up and down, and trying to keep the lines straight. The whole process ate up four full days. It took over 30 hours for two people to get one field game-ready.
"We would have to cut the grass on Monday and then on Tuesday, that's when we'd have to start painting up till it'd be good on Friday," Richard explains.
And even after all that work, the lines weren't perfect. The logos were basic. A big wildcat paw in the center. "WILDCATS" in the end zones with two more paws. Nothing special. Nothing that made you stop and say, "Wow."
When Technology Solves Real Problems
The district took a gamble on field marking automation. Richard and Carlos weren't sure what to expect. They'd heard the horror stories about robots taking jobs. But then they saw a demonstration.
Picture this. A dust storm is rolling through southern New Mexico. Wind is whipping across an open field. And a tiny white robot, steadily painting perfect lines like nothing was happening.
"The machine performed perfectly," Richard remembers. "And I think at that point we were sold and we're like, man, this is so efficient, and the lines were just straight lines compared to us being on a ride-on machine."
But here's where things get interesting. The robot didn't replace them. Instead, it freed them up to do things they'd never had time for before, like cleaning restrooms for game day or maintaining the soccer fields. Actually taking pride in their work instead of racing against the clock.
"Once you get familiar with your robot and how it works, it's set it and forget it," Carlos says. "It's like the extra guy."
They even named it Buford.
“Technology done right doesn't eliminate people. It elevates what they can do."
The Custom Logo Tool Changes Everything
Richard had a background in design from his high school shop classes. CAD programs, CNC machines, and even building virtual worlds in VR. So when TinyMobileRobots introduced the custom logo tool, something clicked.
Before, if they wanted a custom logo, they had to pay $1,500 to an outside company. Those costs add up quickly, particularly for a small school district. And they were still limited to whatever the company could or would design.
With the custom logo tool and Inkscape, Richard released his creative muse. He created different logos for homecoming. Special designs for senior night. Something that reflected who the people of Deming really are.
"Each time that I enter into Inkscape and I'm designing something or I hear of a company that says, 'Hey, we want you to make this or whatever and have it on the field,' I'm excited to do it," Richard says.
That excitement shows. The field became a canvas. Not just for school spirit, but for the entire community.
From Maintenance Crew to Revenue Generators
Richard and Carlos started thinking bigger. What if local businesses could sponsor the field? What if they could put company logos right there on the grass during games?
They pitched the idea to their bosses. The reaction? Enthusiastic support.
This past season was a test run. They designed logos for local sponsors and painted them on the field at no cost, just to show what was possible. The community's response was immediate.
"A lot of people that we put up out there have been asking, you know, what is going to be the price for next year?" Carlos says. "There are a lot of people who want to be on the field."
The Reader’s Digest condensed version is this. Two groundskeepers, armed with the right technology, created a new revenue stream for their district. Not because someone in administration told them to. Because the technology gave them the freedom to imagine new possibilities.
Starting next year, Deming will offer premium sponsorship packages that include field logo placement. The money goes to the football team and to facilities maintenance. It's a self-sustaining ecosystem that benefits everyone.
And the local supermarket, one of the first sponsors? Their employees began attending games specifically to see their logo on the field.
