Sheila Brennan Nee to Retire from Maine Sports Commission
She has served as strategic director since 2015 and helped elevate the state's sports offerings
Posted On: August 18, 2026 By :Sheila Brennan Nee will retire at year’s end after more than a decade as the Strategic Director at the Maine Sports Commission.
Brennan Nee has served in that role since 2015, three years after she helped establish the Commission alongside leaders from the Maine Office of Tourism and Maine’s education, sports and tourism sectors.
Among the events Brennan Nee has helped bring to Maine and support while there: America East Women’s Basketball Championships, Firecracker Sports baseball and softball tournaments, Gran Fondo Hincapie Bangor, IRONMAN 70.3 Maine in Augusta, Kayak Bass Fishing, the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships, the PDGA Women’s Championship, USA Artistic Swimming and the XTERRA Trail Run World Championships.
“Helping build and grow the Maine Sports Commission has been one of the great privileges of my professional life,” Brennan Nee said. “This work has given me lasting friendships, unforgettable experiences and a deep appreciation for the way sports bring people and communities together. While it is bittersweet to retire from a role I have loved, I am looking forward to this next chapter and to spending more time with family and friends — while continuing to cheer on the people, places and events that make Maine so special.”
Brennan Nee will remain with the Commission through the end of the year, working alongside Sports Development Director Patrick Caron, who joined the Commission last year, to support the transition as the board conducts a search for the Commission’s next strategic director.
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High Praise
A native of Foxborough, Massachusetts, Brennan Nee moved to Maine with her family in 1990. In addition to helping bring new events to Maine, Brennan Nee has helped elevate existing sporting events in the Pine Tree State, including by promoting events through traditional and social media. She worked closely with the United Soccer League and the founding leaders of Portland Hearts of Pine to help bring professional soccer to Maine, a vision that became a reality with the announcement in 2023 that a new team would start playing in USL’s League One in 2025.
In August 2025, Brennan Nee was selected by the Portland Sea Dogs as one of the inaugural “Starting Nine,” an honor recognizing women in sports who have helped create opportunities for the next generation.
Brennan Nee has also worked closely with the Maine Mariners, a team in the East Coast Hockey League, since the franchise launched in Portland in the 2018-19 season. She was instrumental in forming the Maine Girls + Women in Sports Community, a statewide network that now includes 45 members and amplifies National Girls & Women in Sports Day celebrations and year-round stories of success.
“Sheila’s passion for Maine, her deep understanding of our communities and her unmatched relationships across sports, tourism and economic development have been invaluable to the Maine Sports Commission,” said Russell Walters, former Board Chair and founding Board member. “She has been a core part of making Maine a stronger four-season destination for sports and recreation. Through her work, sports have become an important way for people to discover Maine and experience communities they might not otherwise have known.”