Abby McNeal

My career in sports field maintenance spans 32 years and has taken me through every level of the industry. I started with college internships working on athletic fields, which opened the door to a summer position with the Denver Broncos - that's when I knew this was the work I wanted to do. I spent time supporting college athletics, including working for a Parks and Recreation agency that was the only place in the city for a Division I school to host their first women's soccer program due to Title IX. That experience led me into professional sports with the NFL and Major League Soccer, and then back to college athletics where I worked at both Division II and Division I schools. I really enjoyed the variety and did extensive project management in athletic departments, helping influence the facilities my team would maintain - making sure we built them right for the athletes and for long-term maintenance and operations. When I wanted better work-life balance, I returned to Parks and Recreation to take what I'd learned at the professional and collegiate levels back to the community. It was incredibly fulfilling to develop maintenance programs and people, do capital projects and purchasing, and give back to communities and underserved populations. In October, I took a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with FIFA World Cup on a contract position that runs through July. I support turf grass managers at team base camps and venue training sites, working on the pitch management team doing field testing and reporting. For over 30 years, I've been learning about these industry-top standards, and now I'm working with them and helping others achieve them. It's humbling and rewarding to work with like-minded people - I see a part of every step of my career in the boots-on-the-ground people I talk to weekly and meet in person.