We have personnel news to report, as Ryan Sanders Sports & Entertainment announces promotions within the RS3 Strategic Hospitality and RS3 Turf divisions and the Watertown Rapids (summer collegiate; Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League) name a new General Manager.
For Ryan Sanders Sports & Entertainment, Jay Kudla has been promoted from Senior Vice President to President of RS3 Strategic Hospitality while Garrett Reddehase has been promoted from Senior Vice President to President of RS3 Turf.
“I am honored and excited for Jay and Garrett to transition into roles that more actively reflect the value that they bring to our organization as a whole,” Ryan Sanders Sports & Entertainment CEO Reese Ryan said. “Jay’s insight and experience has driven our Strategic Hospitality division to new heights while Garrett’s expertise and ingenuity in the sports turf industry has made RS3 Turf a leading provider throughout the state of Texas and beyond.”
Kudla is responsible for leading RS3 Strategic Hospitality’s entire food and beverage division. A 28-year veteran in the sports and entertainment food service industry, Kudla’s background includes improving operations in MLB, NBA, NFL, NCAA, NASCAR, MiLB and NHL as well as both Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans, Louisiana and Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Arizona.
Kudla joined RS3 Strategic Hospitality in 2013 when the company was first created. During his tenure, RS3 Strategic Hospitality has expanded from its flagship location at Dell Diamond, home of the Round Rock Express (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League), to an award-winning, nationwide hospitality provider with clients that extend to both coastlines.
RS3 Strategic Hospitality currently services Circuit of the Americas and the Germania Insurance Amphitheater in Austin, H-E-B Center in Cedar Park (Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the Dallas Stars and Austin Spurs, NBA G League affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs), Brushy Creek Amphitheater in Hutto, Comerica Center in Frisco (Texas Legends, NBA G League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars practice facility) and Blue Wahoos Stadium in Pensacola, Florida (Pensacola Blue Wahoos). RS3 also handles the daily culinary operations for the City of Austin’s Jimmy Clay and Roy Kizer golf courses, while also consulting on a variety of other hospitality projects for clients throughout the country.
Under Kudla’s guidance, RS3 Strategic Hospitality folds in programming and operational models for banquet and conferencing, as well as a complete strategic hospitality service package to address every event-day need in any size venue.
Reddehase manages all operations of professional, collegiate and city sports fields within the RS3 Turf portfolio. Under his leadership, RS3 Turf has grown into a nationwide, award-winning groundskeeping and turf management company that provides construction, renovation, maintenance and consulting for a variety of schools, teams and venues at all levels.
RS3 Turf currently provides the daily maintenance for Dell Diamond, Hodgetown Ballpark (Amarillo Sod Poodles), Memorial Stadium (Boise Hawks), the University of Houston and St. Edwards University in Austin. On the construction side, RS3 Turf helped build the fields for Super Bowl LI in Houston and has replaced the playing surfaces at Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros), the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and Paul Brown practice fields (Cincinnati Bengals).
Reddehase played an integral role in recently launching two new product lines under the Nolan Ryan “NR34” umbrella. In partnership with Whittlesey Landscaping Supplies, Simplot and Pioneer Athletics, RS3 Turf sells NR34 sports field materials including a calcined clay infield mix for baseball fields, mound clay for pitcher’s mounds and home plate, as well as a drying agent and field chalk. RS3 Turf also partnered with Austin-based ACT Global to produce NR34 turf, a diamond sport-specific synthetic turf that is regarded as one of the safest fields produced. A portion of the proceeds from all NR34 products go to the Nolan Ryan Foundation, a 501(c)3 dedicated to community, youth and education throughout Texas.
Reddehase has been a member of the Ryan Sanders Sports & Entertainment family for over 15 years, first serving as a field superintendent at Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks (Class AA; Texas League) during the facility’s construction in 2005. He served as head groundskeeper for the Hooks from 2007 until joining the Round Rock Express in the same capacity in 2009. Reddehase joined RS3 Turf upon creation of the organization in 2014 and was promoted to Vice President of Turf Operations in 2017.
Throughout his groundskeeping career, Reddehase received the Pacific Coast League’s Presidential Commendation for Groundskeeping in 2011 and 2013 and was named the 2012 Pacific Coast League Turf Manager of the Year. Dell Diamond was also named the Texas Turfgrass Association’s Baseball Field of the Year under Reddehase’s leadership in 2015, 2018 and 2019.
While with the Hooks, Reddehase was named the 2009 Texas League Turf Manager of the Year, an award voted on by Texas League managers and umpires. Whataburger Field was also awarded the 2009 Professional Baseball Field of the Year by the Sports Turf Managers Association, the highest honor awarded in the industry.
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In Watertown, the Rapids have named Nicholas Czerow as their next General Manager.
Czerow, a native of Oswego, NY joined the Rapids in December of 2019 as the Director of Sales & Marketing before transitioning into the role of General Manager.
Czerow spent three years in Greenville, SC with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits before embarking upon the new opportunity Watertown presented.
“We are so pleased to have a person like Nick to carry on building our franchise in Watertown. Nick is a person that we have been working on bringing into our organization for a long time. We are very proud to have him join our team,” said Co-Owner Paul Velte.
“We are proud to introduce Nick as our new General Manager. He brings a wealth of energy, imagination, and experience,” said Co-Owner Mike Schell.
Brandon Noble, the former General Manager who championed the club through their inaugural season in 2018 and 2019 remains an important figure in the Rapids’ management. Noble, the new Head Baseball Coach and Athletic Department Specialist with Jefferson Community College will begin a new role with Watertown Rapids entering their third season in the PGCBL.
“Nick and I have worked closely together for many years and I’m confident he’ll take this team to the next level. I’m excited to continue working with him and seeing all of our new ideas put into place this summer,” said Noble.
Schell added, “We are grateful to Brandon for guiding the organization through its first two seasons, and for agreeing to continue as part of our front office team as he also assumes new duties at JCC.”
“Brandon has been with us from the beginning. We know that our staff will always be sought after because we feel we have some great people. We are excited that he will be with us to carry on the success he started,” said Velte.
Czerow is looking forward to meeting with all members of the Watertown community with growth in focus.
“Partnerships are what brought me to Watertown, NY. It started with first meeting Brandon Noble as students at SUNY Cortland and working on projects together, then working in sales together in Greenville, SC. This is the next step in that partnership. We are excited to focus our passion on a city so close to our hometowns.”
“We are focusing on delivering an overly positive and successful experience for all of our partners/sponsors and fans in the community. We grow as one, and can accomplish that much quicker working together,” added Czerow.