By John Kmitta
Hard work has always paid off for Rising Star Award Winner Mira Emma. A native of Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago situated 30 miles west of the city, Emma and her brother started their own landscaping business before Emma was even in high school.
“We would walk up and down the streets,” said Emma. “We had nine to 10 regular customers, and we would just mow the grass. We were kids, and we didn’t want to ask mom or dad for money – we wanted to earn it ourselves. We had two push mowers; one of us would take the front yard, and the other would take the back yard. That was the foundation of what I wanted to do as a sports field manager.”
A three-sport athlete growing up, Emma loved being outside and the competitive edge of sports. With her sights set on playing Division I soccer, Emma let horticulture and sports turf management guide her college decision. Iowa State University met the criteria for both academics and athletics, and Emma was grateful for the opportunity.
“My goal walking into that program was to be an MLB head groundskeeper for the Chicago Cubs,” she said. “So Barb Clawson and Adam Thoms were like, ‘How do we get you there?’”
As a result, Emma interned with the Chicago Cubs for a summer after being at Iowa State for three years; an experience Emma says was amazing having grown up as a Cubs fan.
“What a great group of guys – Dan Kiermaier is the head there, and it’s such an incredible crew with a bunch of different personalities. They made me feel welcome the day that I stepped foot on campus.”
While at Iowa State, Emma also participated in the SFMA Student Challenge.
“Salt Lake City was the first conference that I was able to attend, and I was able to compete with the guys on my squad,” she said. “It is a cool environment to see the perspectives of other individuals. Everyone specializes in their own ways – some people might be better at math or identification or the business side of things. I’m someone who loves the identification piece to it. I’m a very organized individual – making sure we’re on schedule and on time.”
When it came time to narrow her career path, Emma chose soccer. The internship with the Cubs showed her that 81 games of baseball is a very different proposition from soccer. Also, having played soccer for five years at Iowa State, Emma wanted to stay close to the game. So her next journey was to Louisville to work at Lynn Family Stadium (Louisville City FC and Racing Louisville FC) with Aaron Fink and his crew.
“I got to see the men’s and women’s professional side of soccer,” said Emma. “I fell in love with it. I wanted to stay around it.”
Following graduation, Emma seized the opportunity in early 2024 to be a part of big things in Kansas City with the KC Current of the National Women’s Soccer League.
“I wanted to be part of the first ever professional women’s stadium built specifically for women,” she said. “It was their stadium building from the ground up. They have a training facility just for them.”
The team has two natural grass pitches and five artificial turf pitches. In addition, they recently built four more new fields and are building another stadium.
The biggest challenge for Emma was transitioning to the new job and taking on a bigger responsibility. But she embraced that challenge knowing this is something she had dreamed about for a long time.
Her goal? “Be the best that you can be every single day – even if that’s getting 1% better every day,” she said. “Be an inspiration and make the people around you better.”
Now, as Manager of Sports Turf and Grounds for the KC Current, Emma enjoys that every day is different.
“Day-to-day it’s figuring out what we need, prepping for events,” Emma said of her role. “What does match week look like? Making sure you know the patterns to be put in. We have match-day-minus-1 training on Friday; so, prepping the field, striping, painting, setting up goals, spraying to promote recovery, and being as proactive as possible. It can be a lot of different things – especially going from 115 heat index to 65 degrees.”
Emma’s advice to others is to ask why things are done and truly understand the day-to-day tasks.
“We’re in the women’s sports world and we’re part of a movement right now,” she added. “So it’s about putting our best foot forward, representing women’s sports, and representing who we want to be.”
At the end of the day, however, Emma does not seek the spotlight, and would rather shine that light on someone else.
“We’re all a team, we’re all grinding, we’re all working,” she said. “Sometimes no news is good news in this industry. I’m just doing the behind-the-scenes work and grateful for having a job that’s not inside and I get to mow grass for a living.”
According to Emma, it’s about having a strong work ethic.
“What better way than to be an impact on the field?” she said. “How cool is it to provide a safe and elite playing surface for the athletes?”
Outside of work, Emma said the key is finding a work-life balance.
“We have a job to do; but it’s okay to take a weekend to relax and truly escape from what we’re doing,” she said. “Sometimes we get so caught up and overwhelmed, and that adds stress. Grass grows 24/7, but that’s why we have a team. So, trust in your team.”
Emma is grateful for her team, her mentors, and the people who have supported her journey thus far. She is also grateful to be nominated and selected as a SportsField Management Rising Star Award winner.
“I was shocked,” she said. “My jaw was on the ground to know the support behind me. The biggest thing is to be valued for what you do. When you’re good at it, you don’t look for the spotlight, you just continue to put your head down and grind. But what a cool opportunity ahead? And there’s a lot to be done. I’m young, I’ve got a lot to learn, and I’m not perfect by any means. But it gives me a little more encouragement moving forward.”
What their nominator had to say:
When I see Mira, I see the future of our industry. She’s an extremely knowledgeable groundskeeper with an incredible attitude and work ethic that will inspire others to join this industry. Her facility has been top notch each of her years in Kansas City due to her attention to detail and care for the integrity of the game of soccer. Her work off the field is just as strong as her work on the field. So, when I say I see the future of the industry, it’s because I see someone with all the attributes to be a future president of SFMA.
Editor’s Note: SportsFieldManagementOnline.com will profile each of this year’s Rising Star Award winners online so that each winner is 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.
Special thanks to STEC Equipment for sponsoring the Rising Star Awards.
