Dr. Carl Bryan has been named general manager of the Sanford Spinners baseball team.
The Spinners, a member of the collegiate level summer Old North State League, welcomed Bryan, a longtime member of the faculty and staff at Central Carolina Community College, on Feb. 7.
“We’re just thrilled to have Carl on board,” said Spinners owner Albert Anderson, who purchased the team from the ONSL in August 2023. “He’s just very fine tuned for this job.”
Bryan has been with CCCC since 1992, serving as an instructor, basketball coach, department chair, and dean of student learning. He was named CCCC’s employee of the year in 1999-00 , instructor of the year 2009-10, and won the Excellence in Advising Award in 2021. He earned a BA in political science and physical education, exercise and sport science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990, followed by an MA in physical education, exercise and sport science from UNC in 1992. He completed a doctorate in education from Liberty University in 2019.
In addition to his work in higher education, Bryan has been deeply involved in sports at the professional, collegiate and youth levels for decades. He worked with the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks, who played as a member of the World League of American Football in 1991, and in addition to his work with CCCC athletics has volunteered with Lee County Parks and Recreation and NCChallengers. He will retire from his current role as department chair of health and fitness science at CCCC on June 1.
“All of this kind of plays into all the skill sets I’ve accrued over the years,” Bryan told The Rant.
As the Spinners’ GM, Bryan will oversee all day-to-day operations, and says he’s excited to continue the team on the path it has been on since it started in 2021.
“There are still people in this community that aren’t even aware of the Spinners,” he said. “So it’s going to be an education process for our community. But we’re also going to have some things that set us apart even from the other teams in our league. My long range plan at Tramway Park is to really play up the food truck aspect and kind of forge some long term business relationships.”
He also said he plans to use his background in education to get young people involved with the off field aspects of the team, including paid internships for various roles, as well as integrating the on field product into the broader community.
“I want to make it to where it’s going to be hard for a college kid who has played here to not want to come back,” he said.
The Old North State League is a collegiate level summer program for college players who want to continue honing their skills during their off season. The season runs from late May through July. The Spinners – named for a minor league team that played in Sanford in the 1930s, 40s and 50s – joined the league in 2021 and have reached the playoffs the last two years.
Home games are currently played on Southern Lee High School’s baseball field at the county-owned Tramway Park adjacent to Southern Lee High School. In the long term, the team hopes to move to the Lee County Athletic Park upon completion of that facility.