By John Kmitta
Fairly early in life, Morgan Hunter set her sights on a career in turfgrass and has never looked back.
Hunter, director of field services for the Quad Cities River Bandits (High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals), grew up in the small farming community of Assumption, Illinois – pretty much smack dab in the middle of the state. Her grandparents owned a farm, but Hunter knew it was not big enough to support multiple generations.
In high school, Hunter was already helping her softball coach with field maintenance when an FFA trip to St. Louis sold her on a career in turfgrass.
“I’m a big Cardinals fan, and I Googled ‘How do I work on the field at Busch Stadium?’ Turfgrass popped up, and I didn’t really think of anything else from that moment on,” said Hunter. “That was sophomore year in high school. Some of my friends didn’t know what they wanted to do, and I was set on what I wanted.”
Following high school, Hunter attended Lake Land College, a community college about an hour from her hometown, and also worked at a golf course in Moweaqua, Illinois. From Lake Land, Hunter transferred to Ohio State University for her bachelor’s degree, and eventually did internships with the Chicago Cubs and Billings Mustangs.
Followinggraduation from OSU in the fall of 2019, Hunter was supposed to embark on a year-long internship with the Indianapolis Indians, but that got cut short only two months in due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She returned home to Assumption, went to work on a hog farm, and gave herself a deadline of getting a job by a certain point.
Hunter searched the SFMA job board and found a job as assistant groundskeeper for the Columbia (S.C.) Fireflies (Single-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals). She spent one season as assistant groundskeeper for the Fireflies, was promoted to head groundskeeper, and spent a season in that role before moving on to Quad Cities as director of field services.
At Modern Woodmen Park, home of the River Bandits, Hunter oversees all grounds – including the field and approximately an acre of berms. She is assisted by Robert Jump, who mows and performs other maintenance tasks, and a game day crew of 5 to 7 people – which this year included a large percentage of high school students.
Hunter describes her role as, “Day-to-day maintenance of the baseball field, trying to make sure it’s safe and playable and looks pretty.”
She has succeeded in that effort. Since Hunter took the reins at Modern Woodmen Park, USA Today named it the country’s “Best Minor League Ballpark (2024).”
Now Hunter adds a SportsField Management Rising Star Award to her accolades. And, according to Hunter, being recognized by her peers means everything.
“Awards are cool, but it’s how you make people feel and the people that you work with that’s really cool,” she said. “I struggle sometimes with thinking that I’m a leader or might have any kind of influence in this industry. Even just being nominated is an honor, and getting to win one of the awards is really cool. It really does mean so much to me since it is from peers in the industry; and to hear what they said really made me feel good. I try to make it a point to be a good friend and leader whenever I can. I am very grateful to everyone who had any part in me being considered for, let alone receiving, a Rising Star award.”
As a leader, Hunter’s advice to the next generation of sports field managers is to just get your feet wet and see what the industry encompasses.
“Kids might have an internship and think we’re working six hours. They have no clue that I’m here at 8:30 a.m. on game days and I’m here until 11 p.m. or later,” she said. “I also think it’s about getting your start wherever you can. I started on a golf course even though I knew I didn’t want to go into golf. But at least it got me into the industry.
“When I’m working with high school students, I teach them why we’re doing what we are doing so they can learn and understand the process,” she added. “There’s a reason behind everything.”
The lessons Hunter shares are lessons she learned from others, including Matt Williams, Hunter’s Turf Club advisor at Ohio State, whom she credits with pushing her outside of her comfort zone.
During Hunter’s time at Ohio State, the Chicago Cubs were conducting an interview tour at various university turfgrass programs to identify potential interns. Said Hunter, “I told Matt, ‘I can’t do this; I’ve never had a turf internship – the golf course was the extent of my experience.’ He said, ‘You just have to go for it and try. You can’t tell yourself no. At least try.’ He was a huge, huge part in my career. He was very helpful not only from an academic standpoint, but he also cared about us as students and people in the world.”
Another of Hunter’s mentors was Jeff Limburg with the Billings Mustangs.
“My first day in Billings, Jeff was like ‘Can you go mow the field?’ I said, ‘I haven’t mowed a baseball field before.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, you got it.’ He had blind trust in me from the start. It scared the crap out of me, but he taught me a lot out there,” she said.
The support of others in the industry is something that carries on for Hunter, and is, to her, the best part of the job.
“I enjoy coming to work and I enjoy the manual labor and going home after a long day on the field,” she said. “But at the end of the day, it’s the other people. I’ve got people all over the country, and they’re all willing to help.”
When not on the job, Hunter enjoys golfing, hunting and spending time with her family and friends. On the job, Hunter had to adjust quickly to being in charge.
“I never envisioned myself to be a head groundskeeper in my second year in Minor League Baseball,” she said. “That was a huge shock and a very big adjustment for me. I pictured being five or eight years in trying to go for a head spot. This was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, but it was hard – especially being a woman in turf.
“I have this pressure that I put on myself because I care about my job and just want to do a good job,” Hunter added. “But I also want to represent other women in the industry and young groundskeepers in general. Part of that was being willing to admit that I need help or looking for information that I might need. It’s not just ‘I’m a head groundskeeper and I know it all.’ That is the farthest thing from the truth. I think being willing to learn and ask questions was important, because I’m a very reserved person. I don’t enjoy going out of my comfort zone a lot; but in this case I needed to do it not only for my job, but to be a good representative of young groundskeepers and women in turf.”
Through it all, Hunter has been a great representative of young sports field managers and women in turf – one who has earned the respect and recognition of her peers.
“I’m just proud of myself for all that I’ve learned and for becoming a good leader,” she said. “There’s a lot I’m proud of. I don’t know if that sounds cocky, but I think I’m doing an okay job, so I’m pretty happy with that.”
What their nominator had to say:
“Morgan is a force for change in sports field management and SFMA. As a leader, she is resilient and levelheaded. Passionate about maintaining pristine playing surfaces and elevating industry standards, she tirelessly works to enhance every facet of her profession. Morgan’s unwavering dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence make her a deserving candidate for recognition.”
Editor’s Note: SportsFieldManagementOnline.com will share the individual profiles of this year’s Rising Star Award winners during the coming weeks so that each winner is highlighted in our featured spot on the site. But you can also read about all of this year’s winners in the October issue of SportsField Management, and you can listen to interviews with the winners on the SportsField Management Podcast.
To nominate an industry professional for next year’s Rising Star Awards, please visit the Rising Star main page.
Special thanks to STEC Equipment for sponsoring the Rising Star Awards.
