Parks & Rec Rep

Debra Kneeshaw
Portland Parks & Recreation, OR

Debra Kneeshaw has been the Lead Park Technician for Portland Parks and Recreation at the Delta Sports Complex since 1998. She has expertise in synthetic turf maintenance and management and is experienced in converting the 86-acre Sports Complex to host 100 different field combinations.

She served as President for two years of the newly formed Oregon Chapter of Sports Turf Managers Association in 2009 and 2010, and is currently involved as Past President. She served on STMA’s Regional Conference Steering Committee  last year and has been a presenter at the national STMA conference. She serves on a Sustainability Committee for the City of Portland Parks and Recreation to broaden its recycling efforts throughout the parks system in sports stadiums, maintenance disposal areas, community centers and open park settings. Debra also serves on a Portland Public Schools Committee to create a minimum standards contract for all third party contributions of synthetic turf systems. She and her husband, Joshua, are actively involved in their two children's busy sports schedules and see Sports Turf Management from the eyes of Maintenance Manager, Coach, Player and Parent. She has a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from George Fox University.

Vision for STMA:
I fully recognize the challenges that Parks and Recreation face in budget constraints, land acquisition, sport field locations and quality of surfaces, accommodating User Group needs and partnering with groups to help fund construction and on-going maintenance.  I would like to see the STMA broaden its membership by reaching out to administrators, athletic directors, permit personnel and coaches.  Managing Sports Fields is a multi-faceted machine and the better the communication and partnership the more successful the outcome.  The National Conference can promote sessions for team building skills training and invite administrators, athletic directors, permit personnel and coaches to work together with the maintenance personnel.  I would also like the STMA to promote sustainability within our industry as well.