PERSPECTIVES
Managing a mixed crew— full-time and seasonal— is a lesson in time itself. Some walk with us year-round, sharing institutional memory and long-term vision. Others pass through briefly, borrowing structure, discipline and standards that may shape how they work long after they leave. Life’ s meaning emerges in this exchange: we give consistency to those who stay and foundation to those who go. Both matter. Neither is wasted.
Ultimately, the life of this role is custodial excellence. We prepare a stage we will never stand on. We labor for moments we will never experience from the spotlight. We ensure safety, beauty and fairness for games that are not ours to play. And in doing so we discover a quiet truth: life is not about being celebrated— it is about being necessary, faithful and excellent in the care of what has been entrusted to us.
We do not just manage fields. We cultivate integrity underfoot. We teach people how to work with purpose. We leave the ground better than we found it. And that— whether written in grass or lived in flesh— is a life well understood.
Miguel DeJesus is supervising greenskeeper, County of Passaic( New Jersey) – Department of Parks and Recreation; and a member of Sports Field Managers Association of New Jersey( SFMANJ).
This article first appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of SFMANJ Update newsletter( Vol 26, No. 1); the author would like the readership to know that his active participation with SFMANJ and connection with members inspired him, in part, to pen this article. sportsfieldmanagementonline. com June 2026 | SportsField Management
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