Back where it all began: Jesse Bunton turns love of sports into life of service

Growing up in Burke County, Jesse Bunton spent his afternoons on the same fields and courts where hundreds of local children still play. Years later, his passion for sports has come full circle, now leading the City of Morganton’s athletic programs that helped shape him.

Born down by the coast, Bunton’s family moved to Burke County’s Salem community when he was almost a year old. As a child, he kept busy, whether it was riding dirt bikes out in the country or traveling into town for a baseball game.

Lacrosse, track, soccer, you name it, Bunton played a little bit of everything. But it was football that brought him from Patton High School to the collegiate level at Gardner-Webb University. He eventually decided to step away from the sport, and after exploring different career avenues, he landed on Parks and Recreation Management.

He got his first glimpse of recreation at the professional level with the city through his Western Carolina University capstone course, which helps students transfer the skills they learn in the classroom into real-world scenarios.

After graduation, he worked full-time for the Town of Valdese for about three years before accepting his position with Morganton. He still lives in Burke County with his wife, Morgan, their five children, and one more on the way.

What’s the most fulfilling part of your job?

Just getting the opportunity to have a positive impact on all the kids that we see go through our programs. I tell parents this all the time, I’ve got a lot of kids of my own, but when we’re in a baseball season or a basketball season, I have anywhere from 150 to 350 babies at one time. Just getting the chance to love on them and help them grow through sports is probably the most fulfilling.

What wisdom do you pass to the kids in your programs?

We want kids to excel and to have a good time, and also understand that competition leads to good sportsmanship, honesty, and integrity. I always tell the kids that a big part of being a team is playing together, but then the other part is everybody having their own responsibilities and leading towards that team goal. That’s one thing that we really try to promote as well, is making sure you’re doing your job in order to help the team.

What programs are you most proud of?

Probably the volleyball programs, with both the youth side and the adult side. That was something that Morganton hasn’t really had in recent history. We’ve been able to do youth volleyball that’s continually grown. We almost hit 80 girls last year, and then with the sand volleyball, we’ve run that for three seasons now. We started with seven the first season, 12 the second season, and 16 the last season. Those are kind of my babies because I started those fresh from scratch.

It’s great being able to offer those opportunities that are not your everyday traditional sports but offering some of the ones that maybe are a little bit overlooked. We’ve found a really good niche in those groups.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

Spending time outside with the kids is really important to me, whether it’s practicing baseball with the boys or watching my daughter, who does competitive cheer, do her back handsprings and things. Being able to spend time with my wife and kids is probably my favorite thing to do. Outside of that, anything outdoors is good for me. I like to hunt and fish. Those are probably two of my biggest hobbies, especially fly fishing.

Who has made the biggest impact on your life?

Definitely the support of all of my family has been great. But then, coaches from previous sports have had huge impacts on me and have kind of steered me in directions that have made me a better man. On top of that, too, the things that those people leave with you, you never forget. The stories you accumulate and the skills that you learn, those are all hard to beat.