Parks and Recreation Director
Prince George’s County Parks and Recreation / M-NCPPC, Prince George’s County, MD
Cliff Driver, CSFM, has over thirty years’ experience in athletic field and green industry management in the Mid-Atlantic Region. He currently manages over one-hundred athletic fields including softball, baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, and cricket serving a diverse community supporting healthy lifestyles through recreation in Prince George’s County, Maryland. His extensive background includes a significant tenure in the athletic field construction and renovation sector, where he successfully managed over eight-hundred field improvements with a focus on sustainability, efficiency, playability, and player safety. Mr. Driver is committed to implementing innovation and improving technology and data opportunities to enhance efficiency, preserve the environment, and ensure athlete safety.
Cliff is a valued collaborator who actively engages with local, state, and federal elected officials for industry advancement towards sustainable natural grass advocacy for funding, education, and policy development. His passion is to improve sustainable natural grass to foster multi-generational recreation and promote healthy lifestyles within his community.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree, Cliff is currently pursuing his master’s in business administration. He is highly sought after as a presenter, having conducted numerous educational sessions in the Parks and Recreation and Athletic Field industry throughout his career on various topics including sustainability, athletic field construction and renovation innovations, healthy soils and opportunity for improvements, organizational management, program development, data driven decisions with measurable outcomes, and professional development.
VISION FOR SFMA
I have a vision to increase industry knowledge, agency membership, and collaboration and professional development through advocacy to improve athletic field sustainability and safety for athletes of all levels. As the association originated from our highest levels of Sports Field Managers, an area of concentration in our industry is in our Schools (K-12) and Parks and Recreation categories as the foundation and largest potential membership base expansion for further education about athletic field design, construction, maintenance, and life-cycle replacement with multiple internal/external stakeholders’ engagement. I believe that this sector of the athletic field industry needs a leader to collaborate for increased education, budget justification, apprenticeship development, and advocacy for advancements in the largest athletic field property owner section in the industry. As a member on the Board of Director’s in this association, each representative brings needs and opportunities from their respective membership into collaborative conversations to progress the agency and support the short- and long-range goals for improvement. An opportunity for growth is a path or designed track for conference education, specific target articles which pertain to this sector of the industry, and a champion for resources. As the sector of the industry which has the largest stakeholders of athletes across the Country, we need to continue investments into outreach, education, and membership for the greatest reach and impact for positive influence for safe and playable athletic fields.