MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Member Spotlight
MATT McDONNELL Athletic Fields Coordinator • Governor’s Academy • Byfield, MA • Curry College graduate • NESTMA member since 2010 • Serves on NESTMA Board of Directors • NEPSAC/NESTMA Liaison What was your first job in the industry? The Governor’s Academy was my first job in this field. I began working as a caretaker of all the grounds of the 500acre campus. Prior to that, I worked for 18 years in site construction, with an emphasis on land development.
Where did you go from there? After a few years, a position opened up for coordinator of the athletic fields and I jumped on that opportunity. Who were your mentors when you first started in the business? Dennis Brolin, of STS and Peter Thibeault of Nobles and Greenough School helped me a great deal right out of the gate. Dennis did a big job on our baseball field and he allowed me to pick his brain during the project. I asked Matt McDonnell
countless questions and got great advice. I called Pete with many questions and went to his workshops at Nobles. I have a lot of respect for these two gentlemen and appreciate the experience they have, as well as the advice they’ve shared with me. What’s the best business advice you’ve ever received? “Love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” What advice would you share with people starting out in sports turf management today? Get involved with NESTMA. It’s a perfect way to meet great professionals who love to share their expertise as well as their experiences with day-to-day issues. It’s a good way to learn about successful products and quality contractors who can save you time and headaches. NESTMA Field Days provide opportunities to meet one-on-one with professionals and see useful demonstrations of new products. Since the beginning of your career, what is the biggest change you’ve seen in the sports turf industry? The biggest change is definitely seen in the machinery. There have been technical advances that have changed the workforce and the quality of the work. The machines now do more of the precision work and cut down immensely on the labor, which decreases fatigue and human errors. There are now more people with specialized skills who can focus on more specific needs such as irrigation, laser
14 • New England BLADE • December 2019
