RISING STAR
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 .”
32 SportsField Management | October 2024 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com