April 8, 2024
City of Eustis Announces Former Pro Basketball Star Sam Brinson As Parks and Recreation Director
By Kyle Coppola
City of Eustis Announces Former Pro Basketball Star Sam Brinson As Parks and Recreation Director
The City of Eustis is pleased to introduce Sam Brinson, a Miami native with more than 20 years of experience in Parks and Recreation, as the City’s new Parks and Recreation Director, effective April 1, 2024.
Brinson is a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional (CPRP). He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Parks and Tourism from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, which he attended on a full basketball scholarship, and graduated cum laude from St. Thomas University with a Master’s degree in Executive Management. Brinson also played basketball professionally in several countries before returning to Miami in 2004 to begin his career in Parks and Recreation.
Brinson’s previous experience includes serving as the Parks and Recreation Director for the City of North Miami and as Parks and Recreation Supervisor for the City of Hallandale Beach. He brings his extensive background in budget administration, community outreach, facilities management, capital improvements, project management and parks programming to his new position with the City of Eustis.
“We are very excited to have someone of Sam’s caliber joining our management team,” said Eustis City Manager Tom Carrino. “He is bringing new ideas and a wealth of experience to the City and we are fortunate that he has chosen to join us.”
Brinson’s wife is a Miami-Dade County judge, and they have three children. An avid fan of theme parks, fishing, basketball, movies and video gaming, he and his family are thrilled to be a part of the Eustis community.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
