2025 RISING STAR AWARDS MIRA EMMA

MANAGER OF SPORTS TURF AND GROUNDS, KC CURRENT

“ 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

28 SportsField Management | October 2025 sportsfieldmanagementonline. com