Tom Kolbe really likes sports.
No, I mean he really likes sports.
“Working in sports is all I’ve ever wanted,” Kolbe said.
The 32-year-old Indiana native grew up rooting for the Cubs and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football and basketball teams, the latter of which is the university where he served in the sports information department from 1998-2002 as a student assistant. He worked at Notre Dame during time off from school at the University of Tampa. While at Notre Dame, he helped write media guides for football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, hockey and baseball. He also assisted with three football media days and an NCAA Baseball Regional.
Now in his fifth year as sports information director (SID) at the University of Tampa, Kolbe enjoys the daily challenges the job throws at him, the biggest being managing his time when there are 18 sports teams on campus of which he must keep track; not to mention keeping http://www.tampaspartans.com, UT’s athletic website that he was instrumental in developing when he came to Tampa, up to date.
“Rosters, stats, scheduling, stories, social networking (a la Facebook and Twitter); just managing the website is a full-time job,” Kolbe said. Wait, there’s more.
“I always have to stay on top of things such as deadlines for award nominations, press releases and even submitting statistics, schedule changes and other similar things to not only the conference, but the NCAA as well,” Kolbe said.
Fortunately for him, he doesn’t have to do all that alone. Working under Kolbe are 12 SID assistants and one intern.
Carli Todd, the main contact for UT’s baseball and soccer teams, has been working for Kolbe as a SID assistant for four years now. She knows better than anyone the passion and time Kolbe puts into his job. It’s that passion that earned Kolbe the honor of being named the 2005 AVCA South Region’s Top SID in 2005, as well as having his men’s soccer media guide being ranked third in the nation in 2006.
“Tom is very good at what he does,” Todd said. “He makes it a very fun environment to work in.”
Kolbe, who received a bachelor’s degree in sports management from UT and also spent four years as a student assistant in the Sports Information Department while attending the university, has always been loyal to the sports the school has to offer, citing the passion of the teams as one of the main reasons he came to Tampa, as well as going to a smaller school in a big city setting.
“The school’s athletic philosophy is similar to my beliefs,” Kolbe said.
Since becoming SID after receiving his MBA from Regis (Colo.) University in 2004 and spending one year as assistant SID, Kolbe has been active in CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America), where he is a member of the Committee on Committees. He also attended two workshops in Nashville and in San Diego for the group.
In addition, he was selected as the vice-chair of the social committee for the 2008 CoSIDA convention in Tampa. So what’s left to be done?
“I just want to move up further in college athletics,” Kolbe said. “I love what I’m doing.”
Shawn Ferris can be reached at sferris@spartans.ut.edu.