Thursday, March 12, 2015

Life After Work: Tacoma Athletic Commission

I haven't blogged in a while. Since right after being let go from my job. You'd think now that I'm not working I'd have all the time in the world, yet I feel busier now than I ever had. Between looking for work, trying to start a business, side work, writing and other whatnots...I'm exhausted.

I'll talk about those things another day though. Today I'm going to talk about a cause I joined - the Tacoma Athletic Commission (TAC). I was asked to join by one of the committee chairs after submitting an ad I designed for my father for one of their banquets publications.

TAC raises funds, holds event, recognizes the achievements of local athletes (and others in sports related fields) and dedicates itself to youth sports.


They have a Golden Gloves boxing championship, a Golf Classic, an Old Timers Baseball/Softball Banquet, ceremonies for stellar high school athletes for each season, and in June have a big event to give away scholarships to the Male and Female Student Athlete of the Year.

TAC also supports other athletic events held by the parks, high schools, colleges, sports clubs and teams, and other events held in the area.

They are responsible for bringing the Tacoma Pierce County Sports Museum, the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame, the Tacoma-Pierce County Softball-Baseball Old Timers and the Washington State Sports Hall of Fame to Tacoma.

I decided I needed a cause. I mean, I support other things, but have not been actively involved. I decided since I came from a heavy sports loving background, I played ball, coached soccer, one of my kids is still playing college level soccer, and I have talents to volunteer, that this would be a good fit for me. I'm also a big proponent of kids playing sports to keep them in shape and out of trouble.

Today was the first meeting I've gone to and it was a good time. Seeing all the athletes from years past - record setters, award winners - was pretty intriguing. The guest speaker was Andrea Geubell,  a track and field star that went to Curtis High School.

Andrea holds records in Long Jump, Triple Jump, both indoor and outdoor, 400 Meter and 100 Meter Dash.  She won a gold medal for Triple Jump at the
2012 NACAC Under-23 Championships. She took the win at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and helped take her college, the Kansas Jayhawks win their first NCAA women's title.

She's back in Tacoma, still training and substitute teaching. She wants to give back to her community and help other athletes achieve their goals.

We have a ton of great athletes to come out of our city.

  • Lawyer Milloy - NFL Patriots
  • John Kitna - NFL Seahawks, Bengals, etc.
  • Marcus Trufant  - NFL Seahawks
  • Jon Lester - MLB Red Sox
  • Isaiah Thomas - NBA Kings
  • Nate Burleson - NFL Vikings
  • Ron Cey - MLB Dodgers, etc.
  • Jeffrey Conine - MLB Marlins
  • Sugar Ray Seales - Boxer
  • Kaye Hall Greff - Olympic gold medal swimmer
  • Gretchen Fraser - Olympic medalist in Alpine Skiing
  • Phil Sykes - NHL Kings, Olympian
  • Alex Montgomery - WNBA Liberty

I could go on and on...

I'm looking forward to helping TAC however I can and meeting more local athletes.

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John Messina, Personal Injury Attorney

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