PROFILE
Photos provided by Alpha Jones, CSFM
Jones’ s youngest daughter lives just minutes away, his older daughter 40 minutes away, and his son lives in Durham, North Carolina.
“ I try to make sure that I’ m spending time with them doing things that they want to do or that they want to do with me,” he said.
Having worked as a professional drummer for 12 years, Jones also now busies himself following his son’ s professional music career as a trombone player in the horn section for multiple bands.
Jones’ s oldest daughter is the marketing coordinator for the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro, N. C.( famous home to the lunch counter sit in), and his youngest daughter is a venue director.
Supporting all of them is Beth, who works as a pediatric oncology nurse for University of North Carolina Health.
“ Behind every good man is a great woman,” he said.“ She doesn’ t like being the front person, so she’ s okay with me being out front and doing all the talking. But she’ s usually right there behind me. I’ m only able to do what I do because of her.”
According to Jones, no discussion of his life and career would be complete without that emphasis on faith and family.
EXAMPLES IN LEADERSHIP Now, as Jones steps into his moment as SFMA president, he also draws on the support of his SFMA family and lessons learned from Simpson and other SFMA past presidents.
“ Jimmy is a bull in a china shop when it comes to the energy that he will put into something if he believes in it,” said Jones.“ I was always a little mesmerized to be learning things from somebody who is 15 years younger than me— he has been that impressive upon me. His ambition influenced me. Jimmy was always trying to be better than he was at his previous job, better than yesterday. My conversations with him helped me hone my skills. And the number one thing is that he is loyal. He’ s always going to be one of the first ones to call and check on you.”
28 SportsField Management | February 2026 sportsfieldmanagementonline. com