Nov 09, 2009 by Nick

Sports For A Cause: Rebuild. Rebound. Repeat.

The city of New Orleans had a rich history and a unique culture. It was known for Mardi Gras, live jazz music and jambalaya. All of that changed on August 29, 2005 when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the ‘Crescent City’ and left the region under water. Now, New Orleans is known for a hurricane and the subsequent flooding that destroyed the city. It’s been more than four years since that fateful day and the city has only begun to rebound.

Americans responded to this tragedy by donating money, time and supplies. The media coverage kept the people of New Orleans top of mind for months following the storm. Unfortunately, when the media coverage slowed, so did the volunteering. Sports played a large role in the initial recovery of the city, but that impact slowed as well.

Brandon Tosti, a Sportsvite member and ten-year veteran in the sports industry, understood the power of sports and the impact it has on a community. He was inspired by an article in an August 2007 issue of Sports Illustrated that provided a shocking reality of the state of New Orleans schools and youth athletic facilities nearly 2 years after the storm. This inspiration led to the creation of Sports For A Cause (SFAC), a Denver-based 501c(3) non-profit organization that organizes volunteer rebuilding trips and equipment donation projects year-round to help rebuild New Orleans.

“I knew that many people wanted to help rebuild New Orleans, but they didn’t know how or where to start,” said Tosti. “I quickly realized that the sports industry provided the perfect mix of staff, sponsors, and contacts with the knowledge, experience and networks necessary to successfully execute aid projects of this magnitude.”

The people of New Orleans have responded as well. “The local community has been overwhelmingly supportive and always helps me connect with the right people and strategic contacts. It has been a remarkable response and has truly restored my belief in humanity,” said Tosti. “I always tell people that the one thing that motivates me to continue our work in the city is that the people that we have met and continue to work with are positive-minded, upbeat and energetic individuals.”

The fact is that athletic opportunities for the youth of New Orleans still don’t exist in many neighborhoods. Some playgrounds are still condemned and some schools will have to be demolished. “The goal of SFAC is to provide as many schools in New Orleans with the sports equipment they need for Physical Education classes, scholastic athletic teams and community youth sports leagues,” said Tosti. “In mid-October, we held an equipment drive, filled a truck with sports equipment, drove it down to New Orleans and refurbished a rec center in the Lower 9th Ward with several volunteers.”

SFAC’s primary mission is to clean and rebuild playgrounds and youth athletic facilities in the Gulf Region that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina, but they’ve also begun to give back to their home city of Denver as well. “Our organization is continuing to grow and beginning to respond to other communities in need,” said Tosti. “We understand the value of sports and know that it can make a difference in a child’s life, especially it keeps them away from drugs or gangs, which is part of the problem in many cities across the country.”

For more information on Sports For A Cause, please visit them on the web at sportsforacause.org or join the cause on Facebook.

Overtime

Interested in getting involved with Sports For A Cause? Here are some opportunities…

• Time — Join SFAC for one of their volunteer trips to New Orleans. They currently go in March and October, with plans to add another trip in April, May or June. If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact Brandon Tosti.
• Word of Mouth — Spread the word to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn contacts about the organization. Or, provide SFAC with strategic contacts that might help them with equipment, shipping or advertising.
• Equipment Donation — Donate slightly used sports equipment or gather a group of friends and purchase soccer balls, dodgeballs, tennis rackets or footballs for a class or team.
• Monetary Donation — Any amount helps SFAC, even if it’s only $5 or $10. The entire SFAC staff volunteers their time to maintain extremely low overhead and maximizes every dollar donated.

Do you or someone you know have an intriguing story that we should share with the Sportsvite community? If the answer is yes, send an email to Nick B. and provide him with a summary and contact information.

Oct 23, 2009 by Nick

Sportsvite Member Profile: Brian Keller

Brian Keller is on a journey. No, he’s not road-tripping it to Vegas or heading down I-10 for a Seminoles football game. Keller is on a journey to achieve the new him.

Sports have always played a large role in Keller’s life — both personally and professionally. He grew up an avid sports fan and credits his father, a football letterwinner at Central College in Pella, IA, with introducing him to the world of sports. He’s been a rec athlete since his youth, trying his hand at sports like baseball, basketball, football, tennis, golf, racquetball, soccer, and volleyball along the way. “I’ve never claimed to be an all-star,” says Keller. “But, I really enjoy playing and the camaraderie that comes along with participating in team sports.”

Brian is a guy who always puts other people before him. Unfortunately, this neglect began to impact his health. “I’ve always been a heavy person, as I was around 200 pounds in high school, got as heavy as 270 in college, and kept around 280 during my years out of college,” says Keller. He continued on his downward spiral after relocating to Central Florida in 2006 for a new job opportunity. From 2006-08, Keller became a self-described “workaholic.” He was working long and erratic hours that made exercising and eating healthy a challenge. Other than a brief period of a positive regimen that resulted in a weight loss of 30 pounds, his waistband was beginning to grow larger month after month. In 2008, the only exercise that fit into his schedule were the Thursday night company softball games - and most of the cardio came from the errant throws back to the pitching mound following a putout at first base. The calories burned during the softball game were then almost immediately nullified by post-game wings and beer at the sponsor bar.

Outside of his company softball team, Brian’s “best friends” were Burger King, McDonald’s, Taco Bell and any other fast food chain that had a drive-thru window. He was eating this junk food 3-4 times per day and consuming in excess of 4500 calories and 200 grams of fat every day. Keller’s weight ballooned to 358 pounds and he knew things had to change. “It’s pretty safe to say that I was killing myself. Thankfully, my eyes were opened to the destruction I was inflicting upon myself at the end of 2008 and it was time to change.”

Brian decided to quit his job — a tough decision in such a poor economy — and leave Florida to move to Virginia Beach to be near his supportive family and “hit the rest button” on his life. “Leaving my job and friends behind in Florida was a difficult decision, but I really didn’t have a choice,” said Keller.

Shortly after settling down in Virginia Beach, Keller joined Coastal Fitness and hired Kevin O’Hara as his personal trainer. He also started attending Weight Watchers meetings on a weekly basis. He had lofty weight loss goals that could only be achieved by a complete overhaul of his diet and an intense exercise regimen. He worked extremely hard in the gym and turned his back on his old fast food friends. His exercise plan included two-a-days to burn calories and jumpstart his metabolism.

After 6 months of training and eating better, Brian has gone from 358 to 252 - a total weight loss of 106 pounds (his goal is to be at 215 or lighter). He’s lost a total of 62 inches from his body, 16 of them from his stomach. His cholesterol has dropped 56 points and his glucose has dropped 18 points. Also, his resting heart rate has gone from 80-85 bpm to 63-65 bpm. These changes have resulted in increased energy and stamina that allows him to work even harder in the gym.

Brian has been a member of Sportsvite for over two years and now has a new reason to use the website. “I initially signed up for Sportsvite to manage my corporate softball team. Since my relocation to Virginia Beach, I’ve begun to use it to search for teams, leagues and other players that are compatible to me. I can’t wait to find a softball team in the spring to incorporate team sports into my cross-training.”

He continues to train on a daily basis and watches what he eats very carefully. “I have to remind myself that they didn’t build Rome in a day,” he said. “And maintaining my weight will be as big of a challenge as it was to lose the weight initially. I’ve been blessed with a supportive family and friends and owe it to them to continue to work hard.” That’s very typical of Brian Keller - always putting others before himself.

Do you or someone you know have an intriguing story that we should share with the Sportsvite community? If the answer is yes, send an email to Nick B. and provide him with a summary and contact information.