By John Kmitta
When it comes to sports field management, Jake Mays was “born into it.”
As the only child of two high school head coaches, Mays was always around sports. He played football, baseball and golf in high school and spent time working on his parents’ fields – maintaining the baseball field and painting the football field in the fall. He even switched from playing football to playing golf so he could spend more time working on the football field.
“I definitely had a more direct path than most,” said Mays. “When I was in high school, I knew turfgrass management was the thing, and Virginia Tech was the goal, so I continued to do as much as I could.”
Mays, who now serves as director of grounds at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, achieved his goal of attending, and earning his degree from, Virginia Tech.
Said Mays, “I had three internships – two in college and one post college. I did a summer with the Boston Red Sox, a summer with the Washington Nationals, and then, after graduation, a season-long internship at the Seahawks practice facility in Seattle.”
From there, Mays got a job at The Lovett School, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a move back home to Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mays was contemplating leaving the sports field management industry altogether when the Fredericksburg Nationals moved to a new stadium in his hometown. He took a job with the team and was able to spend a season in Minor League Baseball, helping get the new facility up and running.
“I met a girl, moved to Raleigh, and spent about eight months with Nolan Thomas and company out of Oxford, North Carolina, doing field construction all over the East Coast,” said Mays. “I was enjoying doing the field construction stuff when I got a call in the spring of 2022 about my current position as the director of grounds here at The Westminster Schools – a K-12 private school outside of Atlanta. I oversee all the grounds and athletic fields operations here.”
Mays and seven other full-time members of the grounds department maintain the 200-acre campus, including all grounds, flowers and shrubbery, with Mays and two other members of the team focusing on the athletic and performance fields.
“It is a demanding place that expects very high-quality facilities that are an experience,” he said. “It has given me the resources to be able to grow a lot – not just as a turf manager, but as a landscaper and horticulturist as well, because there are so many aspects to the properties we own. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
In terms of the athletic fields, Mays and his team maintain a stadium performance field for football, soccer and lacrosse, as well as baseball and softball fields and three natural grass practice fields.
“We are all natural grass here except for one practice field that we use for a mix of different events,” he added. “We are all bermudagrass in the fall, and overseed with perennial rye. We’re lucky enough that we don’t really host on our performance field too much in the summertime. We use it in the springtime, three to four nights a week, with lacrosse and soccer from all levels. Then in fall for football we play middle school, JV and varsity football out there. It definitely sees its wear throughout the year.”
When Mays arrived at The Westminster Schools, he brought with him a new approach.
“I’ve been fortunate that we’ve been able to get some different equipment to go in the direction culturally that we wanted to go,” he said. “I was able to take bits and pieces from the experiences I’ve had and put them into place. I know how I want to run my staff and how I want things to be organized.
“I knew it was going to take time and I knew I had to win the respect of the people here – some who have been working here for more than 20 years,” Mays added. “I had to show that we are going to go in the right direction, and even though this is a demanding place with high expectations, it’s only going to get better the better we do.”
According to Mays, the best part of the job is the people – those with whom he works, those he has connected with throughout his career, and those who have impacted him along the way.
For Mays, it started with Dr. Mike Goatley at Virginia Tech. “He has been just such a great mentor throughout my entire career and still checks up on me,” said Mays. “And I’ve been fortunate enough that he picks up the phone when I call.
“You take bits and pieces from working with great people,” he added. “John Turnour at the Nationals made a huge impact and has been a big help in my career. Even when I was looking to get out of the industry, he let me know that I need to make the decision that was the best for me. I’m glad John talked me into staying in. I’ve been so lucky to work with so many good people and meet good friends.”
Outside of work, Mays is planning a wedding (for 2025) and spends a lot of time with his fiancée, at the lake, golfing, traveling to visit family and friends, or just hanging out with their dog “Turf.”
“We don’t have many weekends where we sit around and do nothing,” he said. “We like living in Atlanta – it was a big change coming from Virginia. Even though we’re in more of a suburban area, moving to a major city was a change. We’re looking to buy a house down here in the next year and try to make it more like home.”
Before moving to Atlanta, Mays was at a point in his career where he was tired of bouncing from place to place.
“I wanted to get somewhere and feel like I am a part of something,” he said. “I think I found that here. I take a lot of passion and pride in what I do. I work a lot, but I love being at work and I like to stay busy.
“I took this job thinking it was way bigger than me; but it will always be bigger than me and that’s fine,” he added. “But I feel like I’m a part of something, and that’s been huge because I’m taking care of such a large campus that has been impactful for so many people. There’s a lot of other staff here that do amazing things. But just feeling like I finally have gotten into a place I can call home has been very cool, and I thoroughly enjoy it.”
Being part of something is important to Mays outside of his day job as well. He volunteers with the Georgia chapter SFMA, where he serves on the board of directors as K-12 director.
“The Georgia chapter struggled for a while, and we now have a group of people who have been able to revive it and bring it back to something we are all very proud of,” he said. “We’ve been able to expand the horizon and get more people involved.”
According to Mays, industry involvement is not only about giving back to the industry, but connecting with other industry professionals and building relationships.
“Everyone who maintains sports fields for a living is in the same boat,” he said. “Having other people to be able to lean on and call on when you’re trying to make decisions is huge.”
Being recognized as a Rising Star by those industry peers was unexpected for Mays, who labels himself as “an under-the-radar kind of guy.” But he is thrilled to be chosen for the award, and is grateful for the opportunity to reach others in the industry, help younger sports field managers grow and share his passion for his work.
“I just love what I do,” he said. “Being able to be outside every day and being involved in so many different aspects really makes it feel like you’re actually doing something. We are here to create an experience and bring a community together. People are proud to set foot on this campus. That is what I really enjoy most.”
What their nominator had to say:
Jake is one of the most passionate sports field managers I have ever met. He has worked at all levels of the industry where he has always tried to have a positive impact on the community around him – whether that means volunteering at local high schools to talking with high school students about the sports field management industry. He continues to bring the SFMA to the forefront and has created more opportunities for those around him to better understand what this industry is all about.
Editor’s Note: SportsFieldManagementOnline.com has shared the individual profiles of this year’s Rising Star Award winners online so that each winner was highlighted in our featured spot on the site. 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.
