Aaron Bishop has been around Colleton County here and there throughout his adult life, but he eventually he became a more permanent fixture. Now he is working for Colleton County in a huge capacity at the Colleton County Recreation Center.
Bishop went to Wacamaw Elementary School and Wacamaw High School. When his father received a promotion through work to Bluffton he lived in Ridgeland and went to Thomas Heyward. Then Aaron’s dad received another promotion to Georgetown which sent him to Pawley’s Island, and he stayed there for the remainder of his school years. His college career started at the Citadel and he was chasing playing baseball there (center field), but due to circumstances he did not finish at The Citadel. Bishop finished his college career at USC Beaufort where he met his wife. He is grateful he met her because as he put it, “she had a plan coming out of college. I did not, because I was a baseball player.” Aaron did have the opportunity to go overseas to play professional baseball, but due to some injuries he decided to “hang it up”, but he’s been coaching ever since for about 10 years.
After graduation Bishop and his wife moved to Walterboro and this is where he started weaving his presence in the community. He started coaching at Colleton Preparatory Academy. Then some old mentors and old coaches asked him to go coach at Summerville and since it fit so well with his job at the time as a project manager in the government contract field he accepted. His time at Summerville was successful. He and the coaching staff have six players in the minor leagues. They put over 10 players in Division I schools, and had one player go as a first round draft pick straight out of high school.
During his time at home, Bishop worked out most every day at the Recreation Center during Chris Myers tenure. Aaron knew Myers through coaching and from working out there frequently. Bishop always “kind of” joked with Myers saying if he ever left the position Aaron would be glad to step in. Apparently, Bishop spoke it into existence, because he is now the Director of the Colleton County Recreation Center. It was not necessarily the easiest of transitions. Bishop took over “smack in the middle of baseball/softball season.” Aaron credits his staff and others for a successful transition. He credits previous director Chris Myers for helping whenever he asked. He also gives a tremendous thank you to Jim Bailey for all his assistance. Bishop commented that Bailey had never run a season before, but he jumped right in, ran the entire league, and made the season operate well. Bishop is also grateful to have Drew Lloyd as the new Athletic Director at the Recreation Center. Lloyd graduated from Clemson with a Parks and Recreation degree. Bishop notes that he feels a little old, because Lloyd was one of the “kids” he coached in Summerville. Bishop is also grateful for Roman Cunningham and his expertise with concessions and Chip Wiggins and Dewey Varnadoe for running maintenance which is no small feat when you run seven to twelve fields during tournaments and then Monday get them ready for recreation center ball. Due to Jim Bailey’s help, Bishop was able to help the maintenance team prepare the fields for play.
Aaron wants people to know what the recreation center has to offer. At the center they have implemented what they dubbed “Midnight Basketball.” It’s not really at midnight (it’s Fridays from 6:00 pm-10:00 pm) and last Friday was the first time they held the program. There is T-Ball, Coach Pitch, 6U Coach Pitch for girls and boys, and that program goes up to about 12 years of age. Basketball is available for boys and girls. The recreation center also teams up with Wildfire Soccer Club and they are trying to grow that program as well.
As far as Bishop’s short-term goals his immediate goal was to get through the season when he first came. He also wanted to get to know the staff and make sure everyone was on the same page. I also asked what his long-term goals were for the recreation center. He said he naturally wants to see growth, but he wants to take time to look at everything and make a solid plan for opportunities and how to implement those opportunities.
Personally, Aaron is married and has two daughters. He looks forward to establishing recreation center opportunities that his daughters may eventually enjoy.
