Michael Milani
Job description: Fourth year as one of several recreation supervisors, Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks. Responsible for field permits, liaison with community sports groups. Oversees leagues in lacrosse, western Howard County baseball and softball, in-line hockey, tee-ball, soccer and field hockey, as well as summer camps and youth tournaments. Supervises two full-time employees, one part-timer, plus "maybe 150 volunteers a season."
Age: 33
Residence: Catonsville, "about a mile from where I grew up."
Personal: Grew up north of U.S. 40 in Woodlawn. Graduate Woodlawn High, CCBC: Catonsville, and Towson State University, where he majored in finance. All-Metro linebacker and offensive guard on one of George Goudy's standout high school football teams his senior year at Woodlawn. Still plays club lacrosse. He and his softball-playing high-school sweetheart, Joanne, have three sons and a daughter, all in various sports.
Best thing about the job: "Seeing kids participate. When you put a program together and knowing the kids enjoy it, that's the best time."
Biggest challenge of the job: "Trying to accommodate so many requests for athletic fields when there just aren't enough to go around. We try to take care of the established groups, but it gets difficult with more and more kids playing, as well as sports that used to be one season but now are played a couple seasons."