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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Erin Colbaugh, the new director for Hoover’s Parks and Recreation Department, sways on the jungle gym at Hoover Central Park.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Colbaugh by the Shades Mountain Park baseball field.
Erin Colbaugh has been managing events for the city of Hoover for 16 years, and now she’s tackling a new challenge.
In February, she became the new director of the Hoover Parks and Recreation Department, replacing Craig Moss upon his retirement.
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said Moss did a great job in his 16-plus years as parks and recreation director, and he feels Colbaugh will slide easily into her new role.
“She’s familiar with everything going on in parks and recreation, so she’ll be able to jump in it without too high of a learning curve,” Brocato said.
Colbaugh has an incredible work ethic and a great ability to work with everyone, Brocato said, noting that she has already worked with the employees she now will manage.
As events manager, Colbaugh had one assistant working with her, but her job involved a lot of coordination with most city departments. Now she will oversee a department with about 75 people in it, including part-time employees.
Brocato said Colbaugh’s work experience prior to joining the city of Hoover fits very well with the parks and recreation job.
Colbaugh said she knew early in her life she wanted to pursue a career that involved athletics, even when she was at Danville High School in Danville, Kentucky.
She served as a football, baseball and wrestling manager in high school and also helped with basketball game management. While attending Murray State University, she became the university’s first female football manager where she assisted with game management and sports information for other sports after the football season was over.
After earning a bachelor’s degree with a public relations major and physical education minor in 1993, she went to the University of Kentucky to earn her master’s degree in sports management. While there, she served as a graduate assistant under Athletic Director C.M. Newton, working with the special assistant for game management.
Colbaugh also had the opportunity to work several national events for the U.S. Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs. She came back to the University of Kentucky as a full-time assistant in the basketball office, working with legendary coach Rick Pitino. Colbaugh even got a national championship ring for being part of the staff when Kentucky won the NCAA tournament in 1996.
As Pitino was preparing for his move to the Boston Celtics, he played in the Bruno’s Memorial Classic golf tournament at Greystone Golf and Country Club in 1997. While there, he helped line up a job for Colbaugh with the Bruno Event Team. From 1997 to 2006, Colbaugh helped organize events such as the Bruno’s Memorial Classic (now the Regions Tradition), SEC Baseball Tournament and events put on by a breast cancer foundation created by NFL great Brett Favre and his wife, Deanna.
Colbaugh then was hired by the city of Hoover as an events coordinator in 2006. The job later became events manager, and more recently, Colbaugh became the assistant director for hospitality, tourism, and events for the city.
Colbaugh said it has been a privilege to be involved with a lot of unique events over the years, and she has a lot of cool memories from all of them.
One that stands out is former American Idol winner Taylor Hicks’ “home visit” to the Riverchase Galleria while he was in the competition in 2006, when thousands of people gathered inside the mall for the celebration. Another was former President George W. Bush’s visit to Hoover in September 2006.
Brocato said events coordinator Brittany Callaway, who has worked with Colbaugh, is moving with Colbaugh to the Parks and Recreation Department because so many of the city’s events fall in that realm.
Colbaugh said it has been great working with the parks and recreation staff to put on so many events over the years. They are a wonderful team that has done a great job, and she looks forward to enhancing and expanding the excellent services and programs they already have and continuing to look for ways to serve the public with excellence and increase the quality of life for Hoover residents, she said.
She also hopes to increase collaboration between the Parks and Recreation Department and other city departments, as well as with the school system and business community, she said.
Another goal is to look for more ways to expand services outside the walls of the Hoover Recreation Center and Hoover Senior Center, Colbaugh said. For example, maybe the city can hold some activities for senior citizens at the Finley Center because there are many senior citizens involved in pickleball there.
There also may be opportunities to get more people involved with organized activities at the new mountain bike park and trails in Trace Crossings.
While COVID-19 didn’t curtail youth sports too much, some people have been reluctant to return to indoor activities at the Rec Center, so maybe the city can offer more outdoor activities for all age groups, Colbaugh said.
The mayor said that another reason Colbaugh was chosen for the parks and recreation job, perhaps more important than her experience, is that she is a person of high standards and phenomenal integrity. “I think she’s going to be a tremendous asset.”
