Dateline: July 7th - July 9th & beyond…
Locale: London, UK
The Moment: The Beyond Sport Summit
The Details: Beyond Sport seeks to celebrate and support any individual or group, from the grassroots to the global, with the goal to drive positive change through sport. We do this through the Beyond Sport Summit and Awards. The winners of the Awards will receive substantial funding, long-term support, and opportunities to network at the annual Beyond Sport Summit on July 7-9. The Official Shortlist has now been announced. Click here to find out more about the projects that have been identified to participate at the Beyond Sport Summit.
I will be attending this event all next week in London. It should be quite a special moment for me as I have the honor to partner with a clever innovation company, ?Whatif!, for the entire event. On Day 1 & 2, ?Whatif! and I will play the role of Host/Facilitator to the Beyond Sport shortlist social entrepreneurs and provide some teachable moments to further empower their work as human catalysts in their communities.On Day 3then I will host the Beyond Sport Awards with the founder of Beyond Sport, Nick Keller who is absolutely one of my kindred, catalytic spirits.
Here’s a bit more about Nick - Nick Keller is the Founder of Beyond Sport. It was a logical next step for someone who has spent nearly all his working life in sport. In 2000 he set up Benchmark Sport, an entrepreneurial sports company whose brands now include the Sport Industry Group (SIG), Square Mile Sport and Rugby ReUnion. During his career Nick has worked with, and consulted for, an array of blue-chip brands including Bloomberg, HSBC and Virgin Atlantic. He was awarded the Entrepreneurial Media Boss of the Year in 2003 and supports two London-based youth charities.
He has been inspired by sport since childhood and believes that as a restless fidgety pupil, sport was his saviour. Nick still enjoys tennis, running and cycling, and recently completed London’s Marathon and Triathlon. He didn’t enjoy either of these but he did have the idea for Beyond Sport in the shower after, for which he is eternally grateful to the pain, the cramp and the blisters.
Beyond Sport is a BIG moment for the sport for social change movement as human catalysts, thought leaders and business luminaries collide their points of view about the power of sport and engage in meaningful, call-to-action dialogue about sport’s capability to change lives!
A Ball Can Change the World!
Who has the power to make a difference - WE All Do! Join the YOUman Power movement and literally put your energy to good use by showing how you can Beat Gasoline!
Learn more GO PLAY!
From the GAMECHANGERS website:
Architecture for Humanity and Nike are proud to announce the first recipient of the GAMECHANGERS funding to Skateistan, Afghanistan’s first co-educational skateboarding school. Skateistan works with young boys and girls between 5 - 17 years from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. With funding assistance from a range of funding sources, Skateistan is undertaking the construction of Kabul’s first indoor skate park at Ghazi Stadium.
Learn more about this amazing sport for a better world project. Got Ollies?!
Got a project idea?! Go HERE!
A conversation on fatherhood was led by President Obama in DC on Friday. The headlines about the DC gathering were splashed across the web and news channels on Friday and served as a catalyst for me to recall the mosaic of “men” who served as father-figures for me in my life - winos, derelicts, laborers, “mathers,” drug dealers, war vets and businessmen. One of the most influential “men” in my life was a playground called Preston.
I won’t grow tired of sharing stories about Preston Playground so, I have decided to annually reprise my 2008 ode to Preston Playground - a significant play/growth locale for me in my formative years. Enjoy your chase + Father’s Day…
Happy Father’s Day - Preston Playground!
My father was gone by my 3rd birthday – never to return. He left no memories of a stern voice, or comforting touch, “a smell-good” scent, or that weary and pride-filled look of “I’m workin’ my behind off for this family.” I have no memories of nurturing or endearing moments, and no “go git your glove boy & let’s head out back” images to reflect on either. I don’t have one picture of my father anywhere. I don’t have a single snapshot of our family together or of him holding his sons in a bear hug. Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop(my grandparents that ended up raising us)said that my older brother looks an awful lot like my father so, that’s the best I can do for an image: based on my brother’s build that would make him a good six foot, with a thick build, and a full growth of hair on his face. I do recall that his presence was large and dark and that his voice was deep and bellowing. I remember that “cologne” he wore smelled an awful lot like winter-green-scented rubbing alcohol in the medicine cabinet.
I can’t for the life of me conjure up what our home looked like at all. I know what the homes were like after he left us – scattered, transient, unpredictable, frightening, dark and always different addresses.
Without a father in my life, I resorted to finding fatherly lessons from other men in my life who were willing to share their wisdom with me. My teachers came in the form of businessmen and laborers, winos and alcoholics, drug dealers and users, sport coaches, my peers and old-heads at the playground, merchants in the neighborhood and war vets that weren’t quite right anymore, school teachers and other kid’s dads. At an early age, I learned to be constantly on the lookout for any nugget of insight that may assist me on my rite of passage to manhood. So, many boys and many men helped me to become the man I am today.
One male figure that proved to be one the most influential in my journey was not a man in the literal sense. But he was a consistently a source of many of the fatherly lessons I learned. That source was, the Preston Playground.
Preston Playground, a.k.a. the Field was probably one of the most significant male figures in my life. Not much to look at but beautiful nonetheless, the Field was a wide expanse of green grass, a set of swings, monkey bars (which I hung from trying to get taller), a sliding board (which I fell off many times), an old deserted school, a basketball court with no lights that also served as the kickball & wiffle ball stadium (I lost an awful lot of skin on that asphalt falling, tripping, or getting knocked down), a baseball field with an infield made of what was affectionately known as Astro Dirt and the equipment shed. You could find beer, liquor, wine and drug mementos strewn about, Preston. The scent of urine behind the equipment shed was always present and no one ever wanted to retrieve a ball from that locale!
In spite of the many seedy and illicit events that occurred at Preston Playground, there was always this marvelous sense of community there too. It was the heart of the block and it was the convening place for anything that was significant in the neighborhood. Reputations were created and lost there. Myths and legends were conjured up there. Loves were realized, nurtured and lost there. Dreams were inspired and squashed there. And stories upon stories were told there.
Preston was my truly like a home for me especially when you consider how much time I spent there. That playground was probably the biggest influence in my formative years. Preston, and all the eclectic men who trekked across its landscape of asphalt and grass throughout the day, gave me permission to chase my dreams.
Preston and I spent countless hours alone having the conversations that an adolescent boy should have with his father. All of my conversations that questioned world events; trying to understand fears or managing worries and concerns; wondering how to fulfill hopes and dreams; making sense of the things deepest in my heart and soul. Preston was always available. Preston was an amazing listener. Preston was always welcoming. Preston was unconditional, trustworthy, it knew right from wrong, and was honest.
Preston knew about all of my successes, my disappointments, my failures and my moments in sports that were memorable.
Spending time at Preston Playground I received a lot of lessons from the school of hard knocks and via the teachers who hung out there on a daily basis: the importance of practice, sacrifice, determination; the lonely work;” teamwork; the Golden Rule; if you want anything in life you’re going to have to scrap and fight, be clever, crafty, resourceful, and honest to obtain it; always be a straight-up man; keep your elbow in and follow-through; hard work never goes unrewarded; can’t do nothin’ in life with a broke Want To; you better leave that stuff alone cause one day you’re gonna be something.
These were lessons that I should have learned from my Dad.
Luckily, Preston Playground was there.
Happy Father’s Day, Preston Playground!
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