Former PHS hoops star now behind the scenes in management
By: Bob Nuse
The first in a monthly series of stories that will attempt to catch up with some of the Packet-area sports figures of the past.
Bram Reynolds made quite a name for himself on the basketball court while he was a player at Princeton High School.
During a career that saw him finish as the school’s all-time leading scorer, as well as the top scorer in the history of the Colonial Valley Conference, Reynolds helped the Little Tigers to three straight Central Jersey championships from 1992-94.
These days, Reynolds is doing his work in sports behind the scenes. As an operations manager for Global Spectrum, which is a subsidiary of Comcast-Spectacor, the Princeton High grad is responsible for overseeing, primarily, the contracts for cleaning, window cleaning, waste removal, as well as, other facility management related issues at Citizens Bank Park, the new home of the Philadelphia Phillies.
"The Phillies needed help with the back of the house operation of the new stadium," explained Reynolds, who graduated from the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore and then graduate school at Temple University. "What we do is oversee the things like window cleaning, maintenance of the stadium, cleanup after games. They bid that out to a management company to help them run that aspect of the operation. They had that over during the startup and Comcast-Spectacor was awarded that contract.
"The Vice President of Operations needed a couple of managers over here and this is an excellent opportunity for me so I jumped at it. It’s a big career boost to be involved in the opening of a new facility. Being three years out of grad school I’m really a novice, so this is an excellent opportunity for me."
After completing his career at Princeton High, Reynolds enjoyed moderate success on the basketball court at UMES. But even then he realized he wasn’t going to be able to make a career out of playing basketball.
"That was my thinking when I initially went to the graduate program at Temple in Sports and Recreation Management," said Reynolds, who lives in Philadelphia with his fiancé, Rakia, and their 8½-month-old daughter, Skai. "I knew I wasn’t going to go pro or anything like that, but I still wanted to be in the sports field. My undergraduate degree was actually in education, but after I did my student teaching, I realized I couldn’t do that for the rest of my life.
"I needed something that changed every day and that’s definitely true with this job. It’s different all the time."
Reynolds got his first taste at the event management side of things while doing his Temple internship at the Wachovia complex in Philadelphia. While there, he helped with events at what are now the Wachovia Center and Wachovia Spectrum.
"Once I finished with my internship and school, I got a job with a former employee from the Wachovia Complex that I knew from my internship, who working as a supervisor at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City," Reynolds said. "I worked there seven months and it was a great experience.
"The position I interned for at the First Union Center (now Wachovia Center) became available when the individual who had the job was promoted, so I sent in my resume because I was looking to get back into the area. I was at the time and still am living in Philly, so I was able to cut down on the commute and get closer to home. They remembered me and I already knew most of the people there, which definitely helped me get the job at the Wachovia Complex."
After seven months in Atlantic City, Reynolds was back with Comcast-Spectacor in Philadelphia. After working at the two arena, he was moved to Citizens Bank Park this month, where he will be part of the first-ever season in the new home of the Phillies.
The experience he gained while working across the street should help him in his new position.
"At the Wachovia Complex we host all kinds of events," Reynolds said. "It’s been great. We’ve hosted concerts from Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera to the Dave Mathews Band. And we’ve hosted the Toyota National Car Show. Plus there are pro teams and minor league teams and college events. It’s been great to be involved with all of that. We do about 400 events a year in the Wachovia Spectrum and Wachovia Center.
"That experience was great and now I’m looking forward to this position at Citizens Bank Park. It’s great being part of something new like this. Everybody here is excited about the season."
For Reynolds, once the season starts his days and nights will be kept pretty busy.
"My normal work day right now is from 7:15 in the morning until 5:30 in the afternoon or so," he said. "You don’t ever expect it to be a 9-5 job. Once the baseball season starts, I’ll be here from 7 or 8 in the morning each day until after the game is over. It will be a long summer, but it will be exciting. And the experience I’m gaining in this job is incredible."
One drawback is the work has kept him from actually getting on the court himself very often.
"I don’t think I’ll be able to get to Community Park and play this summer," Reynolds said. "I’ll have to find something down here. It’s tough once you get into the season, plus I have Skai at home and she takes up a lot of my time. I want to be able to get home to her and hang out for the night."
Reynolds did manage to get back to Princeton a couple of weeks ago for the PHS alumni basketball game. That’s an event he would love to see continue.
"The alumni thing was fun to be a part of," Reynolds said. "Hopefully they’ll keep it up and more and more people will be able to get back for it each year."
And Bram Reynolds is hoping he’ll be one of them.