“They Expect the World and Give You Nothing for It”: Obstacles and Opportunities for Best Practice Adoption among Community Sports Field Managers

Community sports fields are an integral part of American recreational culture. Managed appropriately, they can support the health of people, plants, and ecosystems. We conducted virtual focus groups to explore the adoption of best management practices (BMPs) and technologies by community sports field managers (CoSFMs). BMP adoption varied among CoSFMs. Motivating factors such as pride and human health considerations influenced improvement and changes in management. Barriers to adoption of innovations included resources, fear of failure, vendor support, resistance to change, and regulation, whereas innovation characteristics including relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, and observability encouraged adoption. Findings also indicate that community expectations create challenges for CoSFMs, augmented by poor public perception of the sports field management profession. Perception improvement efforts could include intentional BMP use and effective communication, which can be supported by professional development efforts.