Billy Sellers (’20), Making a Splash
Billy Sellers (RPTM 2020) described himself as a “pool rat” when he was a kid. “My mom was the swim coach. Starting in high school, I was a lifeguard and then the summer after my freshman year of college, I became the pool manager.”
Those early years and experiences around pools near Columbia, Maryland would come full circle for Billy in his current role as Aquatics and Recreation Coordinator for South Middleton Township in Cumberland County, PA.
Billy started his Penn State education at the Mont Alto campus as an undecided major. “I guess I had a choice to go to Penn State or not,” he laughs. Given that his father and uncle are Penn State alumni and his grandparents met at Penn State, his choice seemed pretty easy.
“I always say that finding Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management was a happy accident,” he said. While talking with his Mont Alto campus advisor, he considered Forestry or something else that would push his career away from sitting at a desk. “I wanted something outdoor based,” he shared.
Through his enrollment in RPTM and move to University Park, Billy found his way to the Outdoor Recreation Management option. That included spending a week at Outdoor School, a residential camp run through Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, Penn State’s affiliate nature center, where Penn State students can earn credits and learn about environmental education as a camp counselor. Billy completed the Student Engagement and Experiential Discovery (SEED) semester at Shaver’s Creek as well. SEED is a block semester of tethered courses, the majority of which take place at the Center, 13 miles from University Park. “I took the most credits that you can for SEED. That experience of all the things I’ve done helped prepare me the most for the real world. I had the best grades of my college career that semester.”
Despite his amazing experience in outdoor recreation, aquatics and pool programs kept calling his name. He completed his 12-credit internship with Centre Region Parks and Recreation in the aquatics program under the direction of Todd Roth (PSU, 1997), adjunct instructor for the RPTM program but also gained experience with the broader aspects of community recreation. “I had an amazing experience with Centre Region. It’s kind of cool now running into Todd at professional conferences,” said Billy.
Unfortunately, that internship in Spring semester 2020 was cut short because of COVID. “I was a resident assistant (RA) and we got the call that everything was shutting down. The last part of my internship was working remotely with the staff at Centre Region to cancel all of the programming we had created. All of that hard work just gone.”
After graduation, Billy took a job at Giant because grocery stores were one of the few places hiring in the pandemic. The following summer, he accepted a seasonal role with the Carlisle Parks and Recreation program, under the supervision of Kristin Hertzler Ziegler (RPTM 2004). One of the lifeguards at the pool in Carlisle mentioned her mother was looking for an aquatics manager in nearby South Middleton Township. Billy applied and accepted what is now his current position as Aquatics and Recreation Coordinator for South Middleton. “It really is about networking and making connections,” said Billy.
In his role at South Middleton, Billy oversees all aquatics programs including lessons, lifeguard training, swim team, scuba, and kayaking. “We have over 150 kids in our recreation swim team,” said Billy. “I guess I’m still following my mom and dad who are still coaching the high school swim teams.” Within the boundaries of South Middleton Township, which align with the local school district boundaries, there is also a lake. Billy hopes to expand recreation and programming opportunities on that lake.
“Because the township and the school district lines are the same, we work with the school district to share facilities,” said Billy. “Parks and Rec in South Middleton has a great relationship with the township supervisors.” The township and the school district share facility space both indoors and outside. There are plans to renovate the 50-year-old indoor pool at the high school where South Middleton holds their aquatics programs, as well as an $8 million renovation project to renovate and move to a new indoor recreation center.
Billy is excited about municipal recreation and encourages students in RPTM to consider community recreation management. “We do it all,” he said. “We have the freedom to come up with new ideas and implement them as programs. We offer so many different programs for our residents like our summer concert series and outdoor movie nights.” Billy is currently overseeing aquatics and assisting with general recreation programs due to a position opening with the retirement of South Middleton’s Program Coordinator.
With Billy’s typical light-hearted and approachable style, he said his advice for students considering careers in recreation was “I have no advice,” as he laughed. He then went on to talk about the importance of building connections. “Use the resources around you and make connections,” he said. “Shaver’s Creek and Centre Region Parks and Recreation are right there, near campus. Take every opportunity you can to make connections.”
Billy recently served as co-EXPO Chairperson for the PA Recreation and Park Society’s (PRPS) Annual conference. Ironically, Todd Roth was recently elected to serve as President of PRPS. Another example of Penn State’s “small world” networking opportunities for students, faculty, and alumni.
A self-professed Pool Rat who followed in his family footsteps through Penn State and providing programs for his local community, Billy Sellers is making a splash.