“ Reeves has made a tremendous impact on Brookhaven School District through his hard work, knowledge and dedication; having transformed the baseball, softball and football fields into playing surfaces that the athletes and community can be proud of. He leads by example, takes pride in his work, and consistently goes above and beyond to provide safe, high-quality fields. He is truly deserving of recognition as a SportsField Management magazine Rising Star.”
RISING STAR AWARDS
Reeves Fernald
Athletic Maintenance Supervisor, Brookhaven School District
RISING STAR AWARD WINNER Reeves Fernald found his way to the sports field management industry after two decades in landscape design and construction. It is a career path that has taught him to not take things for granted and to always be open to new opportunities.
“ I was always interested in doing something outside or doing something with my hands,” said Fernald.“ During summers in high school I built houses with a local contractor buddy, and also worked on vending machines – just did a lot of different things. But I always seemed to go back to being outside.”
When it came time to choose a career path, Fernald settled on landscape architecture. He attended Hinds Community College for its Landscape Management program, then pursued his degree in Landscape Architecture at Mississippi State University( MSU).
After graduating from MSU, Fernald went to work for a local company before eventually launching his own business offering landscape design, build, irrigation, concrete, drainage, and more.
Photo by Jason Dooley
“ But around the end of COVID, I got a call from the former athletic director here at Brookhaven School District, Tucker Peavy,” said Fernald, himself a graduate of Brookhaven School District. The person who had managed the district’ s athletic fields for 20 years was retiring, and the school district was looking for a replacement. That led Fernald to a new career in sports field management.
At Brookhaven, Fernald implemented a field improvement plan that included eliminating invasive and undesirable grasses, establishing healthy bermudagrass turf, and developing a year-round maintenance schedule tailored to the needs of each facility.
“ But we didn’ t inherit a bad problem,” he points out.“ These fields were pretty well maintained when we got here. Brookhaven has always taken pride in its facilities. We’ ve got a little over nine acres that we take care of.”
The fields / facilities include a football game field, a two-acre football practice field, a baseball field and a softball field. Fernald also oversees the maintenance of the campus grounds, as well as some facility maintenance on their aging stadium.
“ All of our facilities, with the exception of the football game field and practice field, are scattered out across town on different campuses,” he said.“ So there is some travel time and some coordinating our ability to be everywhere we need to be in a timely fashion.”
Fernald typically runs the operation as a three-person crew, but is currently down to two with just him and Christian Markham overseeing the fields and grounds management. Markham has been on staff for three years and has become extremely valuable to the daily operations.
“ We try to keep all of our fields as close to game ready as possible,” he said.“ Sixty to 70 percent of our effort goes toward football and trying to make sure that those football fields and practice fields are at their best.”
A typical week begins with work on the football field and the practice field. Work then transitions to baseball and softball midweek before shifting back to football later in the week to keep everything on schedule.
Fernald said the biggest challenge he faces is the weather, but that is followed closely by the expectations of people such as a coaches and band directors to balance schedules and field traffic. The ultimate goal is making the fields as safe as possible for everybody.
Through strategic overseeding, fertilization, irrigation management, pest control, and field conditioning practices, Fernald has transformed Brookhaven School District’ s baseball, softball, and football fields into some of the premier athletic venues in southwest Mississippi. The district’ s football and softball fields both earned Pioneer Athletics Fields of Excellence Awards every year from 2022 through 2025, and the baseball field received Fields of Excellence Awards in 2022 and 2024.
“ We’ ve been able to consistently do what we do,” said Fernald.“ It’ s not a one-off. You’ re going to have bad days, and you’ re going to have bad seasons. We’ ve been able to do it consistently well year after year.”
Fernald’ s commitment to the profession extends well beyond his workplace. In addition to serving SFMA as a volunteer on the SAFE Fundraising Committee, he has become a respected resource for other schools and athletic programs. Athletic directors, coaches and field managers from neighboring schools frequently seek his advice on turf management, field renovation and maintenance strategies. According to his peers, Fernald has openly shared his knowledge and experiences, helping others improve their own facilities and promoting higher standards of sports field management throughout the region.
As for the awards, Fernald said it is nice to know that people have noticed and to know that he is doing it right. He also knows those accolades wouldn’ t be possible without the support of Brookhaven’ s athletic director, Mandy Vinson, and the administration.
“ I always said that I didn’ t want to cut grass for a living, but this has probably been the least strenuous job that I’ ve ever had,” he said.“ You are at your own schedule and own pace. Our athletic director doesn’ t micromanage. We’ ve got all the tools that we need to do the job effectively.” Fernald also credits the support of his family.
“ My wife, Carrie, and I have been married for 20 years, and we have two daughters, Abby and Katherine,” said Fernald.“ Abby is in high school, plays softball and runs cross country. Katherine is in sixth grade and plays soccer and softball. So we spend a lot of time watching them compete. When we find time, we like to golf, fish and run.”
Fernald added that Carrie, a nurse practitioner, will often spend her weekends helping him with tasks at Brookhaven School District.
“ She knows that if I have something to do, I’ m probably not coming home until it’ s done,” he said. Fernald added that his biggest influence has been his parents.“ One of my dad’ s biggest things was try hard, do your best and never give up,” he said.“ It was instilled from both parents that you had to work for what you want. It may not directly relate to what I do, but how I do it.”
Fernald has taken their advice and applied it to his journey from landscape design to sports field management.
“ With starting in landscape architecture and doing landscape design and construction work, I never thought I would be cutting grass or maintaining fields,” he said.“ So don’ t get too focused on one thing that you don’ t look for other opportunities along the way. You never know what may come up.”
WHAT THEIR NOMINATOR HAD TO SAY:
“ Reeves has made a tremendous impact on Brookhaven School District through his hard work, knowledge and dedication; having transformed the baseball, softball and football fields into playing surfaces that the athletes and community can be proud of. He leads by example, takes pride in his work, and consistently goes above and beyond to provide safe, high-quality fields. He is truly deserving of recognition as a SportsField Management magazine Rising Star.”