June 11, 2026 • 29 mins
Associate clinical professor Ford Dyke is called to play many roles — and each one proves its worth in gold.
“Each day it's a different hat, but to me it's all an Auburn experience,” he said.
Fourteen years ago, the Florida native made his way to the Plains to pursue both a master’s and doctorate in Auburn’s School of Kinesiology. Today, he directs Mindfulness@Auburn and travels as a performance coach with Auburn’s three adaptive athletics teams.
“Whether I'm in a classroom teaching students, doing research data collection, or coaching on the sideline, it's all interconnected,” Dyke explained.
Now, armed with a spirit that is not afraid, Dyke is stepping boldly onto the world stage — literally.
In 2024, he was named head coach of the USA Wheelchair Handball National Team. His first call? Fellow Auburn graduate and Olympian Reita Clanton.
“She said, ‘I'm all in,’” Dyke recalled. “If it wasn't for her, I don't think I would be sitting here. She's really the pioneer.”
Dyke, who spent seven years competing with the USA Men’s Handball Team, didn’t hesitate. He built the team from the ground up — securing sponsors, funding, equipment, facilities, staff, and the infrastructure needed to launch a world‑class program.
“We're trying to elevate this sport,” Dyke said. “I'm bringing the best team of athletes and the best staff possible.”
He named Clanton as assistant coach and added former Olympian Lisa Egan from the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. He tapped Eric Finch, who helped launch Auburn’s Team Handball Club, as goalkeeper coach. Camden Bentley, head Athletic Trainer and Strength & Conditioning Coach for Auburn Adapted Athletics, joined the staff along with mental performance coach Derek Sorensen.
Dyke also forged a partnership with Auburn‑Opelika Tourism, giving the team access to elite local facilities. The collaboration has become a cornerstone of the team’s rise — representing not only the stars and stripes, but the grit, pride, and resilience of our region and Auburn University on a global stage.
“When Team USA gets involved, it just raises everything,” Dyke said. “We knew there could be a greater impact if we were able to perform at a high enough level to get more traction, more eyes, more ears, and more awareness on our sport globally.”
And perform they did.
Right out of the gate, the team captured a Silver Medal at the 2024 3rd IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship and a Bronze Medal at the 2025 4th Euro Hand 4 All.
Now, the team is gearing up for two major international competitions. Both will set the stage for the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Paralympic Games.
“We've named this year OperationGOLD,” Dyke said. “We travel to France on June 24 and play July 1 through 5. We return in August, recalibrate, and go again to Barcelona, Spain, September 14 through 21 for the World Championships.”
This weekend, adaptive athletes from across the country will gather at Auburn’s Lake Wilmore Park Recreation Center for selection camp. The final roster will draw heavily from athletes in wheelchair basketball, tennis, and rugby.
“A lot of the fundamental aspects of adaptive sports are universal — making sure your wheelchair is just an extension of your body,” said team hopeful Jay Denning.
Denning, a Nashville native and graphic design major in Auburn’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction, was a hoops standout on last year’s national championship‑winning Auburn University Wheelchair Basketball team.
“The hardest part was learnin
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Episode Transcript
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(00:07):
Welcome intoEverything Auburn, the monthly podcast
we have here on the campus,Auburn University.
We get to meetmembers of the Auburn family
and get to learn more about what they doand what makes them so special.
I'm Carter,and I'm so glad that you're here.
Joining me I got two specialtheir very talkative and fun guests.
We've already had a good timebefore we recorded,
so I'm looking forward to this one.
I have Ford Dyke Head Coach,USA, Wheelchair Handball
(00:29):
National Team and member.
Hopefully.
I guess we just got to make surethe team gets announced here, so we're
fingers crossed.
On member of wheelchairnational handball team Jay Denning.
Welcome to the podcast gentlemen.
Thank you card. Appreciate it.
You guys for having us.
Hey I'm glad you guys are here.
I'm looking forward to it.
I want to know everything aboutteam handball, how it started.
You're we're talkingon the way over here, if I may.
(00:51):
Godfather of the team.
You've created the team out of nowhere.
A lot of workI can only imagine went into it.
Well, walk me through how we started to.
How we got here,how Auburn became the home for this,
which is so incrediblefor a US national team
that is here at Auburn.
How do we get to where we're at?
It's a long story to say the least.
I'll keep it as condensed as possible.
(01:13):
So I started here in 2012as a master's student.
When I came off of undergraduatestudies in psychology,
I decided to come to Auburnand study the human body.
So exercise science was my fieldin the school of kinesiology.
One year later,I tried out for the men's Indoor
National team,which there was a residency program here
on campusfrom 2013 to about 2018 for five years.
(01:35):
And I played all the way through Covid.
Once Covid hit, my coach retired.
I retired.
All the while.
I had thought about coachingduring that process
in that sport specifically,but I just didn't really ever
think of the way it would transpire,how it is now.
And so, as an aside,during the 2012 to 2020 window,
(01:56):
I was on the sidelineand still am on the sideline
with Auburn adoptedathletics, specifically
wheelchair basketball.
And I always thought those worldswere pretty separate and isolated
until one of my formerteammates from the national governing
body of USA, Team Handball,gave me a call November of 23.
And he said,are you aware of wheelchair handball?
(02:17):
And I thought it was kind of a typo.
I thought he was trying to talkabout basketball.
Yeah, yeah.
And I said, no,man, I've never heard of this.
What's going on?
And he said,there's about 20 teams
at the time around the world.
It started in the 90s.
US was interested.
They want to submit a wild cardto the upcoming World Championships,
which is September of 2024.
And he said,we can't really think of anyone else
(02:38):
that has indoor elite experiencefrom the athletic side of team handball.
I played beach as welland wheelchair
specific coaching experience,so we thought, well,
let's smash those worlds togetherand assign you as the head coach.
What do you think?
I'm like,oh yeah, I have nothing else going on.
Figure it out. Yeah, sure.
But he said, you know,we don't have resources. We don't.
(03:00):
You don't have a team,you don't have coaches,
you don't even have goals.
You don't have equipment or balls.
You have nothing.
So do you still want to do it?
And I was like,give me like 48 hours,
you know, let me,let me like marinate
a little bit on this one for a second.
So my first call was OlympianRita Clinton.
At the time we had worked togetherfrom 2012 and beyond.
And and she said, I'm all in.
(03:21):
And I was like, allright, well, we can't go back now.
You know, I gotI got my first Olympian on staff.
That's great.
And then that justevolved to the second Olympian,
Lisa Egan,at a Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
And she's a 96 Olympian.
She's actually read as athlete.
Rita was a coach in 96.
So you'll start to see how crazythis family lineage starts to,
you know, evolve.
Quite the big family tree here.
(03:42):
It's pretty wild. Yeah.
And so we started talkingto Anthony
turtling over at Auburn Opelika Tourismwho we had relationships
before ten years before that.
And he said I'm all in.
We'll talk to Robin Bridges.
We'll figure some things out.
And so this is all about Januarythrough March, maybe April of 24.
And we're just trying to getthings set up in a way
(04:04):
that if we receive the wild card,we would be ready to go.
And so May 16th. My phone rings.
Never forget it.
And they said, hey, we got the wild card.
You still, you still in,you still committed.
I was like, oh man, this is crazy.
You know,starting something from nothing
and then going toa world championship level to compete
is probably not the smartest thing to do.
(04:25):
But, you know,I said whatever, let's do it.
And end of the deep end.
Yeah.
We just fully went inand I said to a lot of the staff
and a lot of the early recruitsthat were not just going there
to show up and participate.
We want to make sure that we playin the final match for that gold medal.
And people like,I don't know about all that.
He's kind of crazy to say that.
But like the confidence,yeah, you have to go
(04:47):
with, you know,what's in sight and reverse
engineer and work backwards. Sothat is a whole other
documentary and of itself.
We ended up winning the silver medaland that really kickstarted the program,
which was wild.
We lost to Egypt in the final match.
We took down Brazilin a double shootout in semis,
which they were the reigning champions,and it shocked the world.
(05:07):
That was really our gold medal matchlike as an aside.
And so we returned in September.
It took me about a monthto really figure out
what day or time it was,just because of everything that happened
leading up to that.
And then once we got tothat December into the next cycle of 25,
our phone rang againand France reached out
and they said, hey,we want to invite you.
Your top team alreadycome on over, compete in this tournament.
(05:29):
And that's really where our eliteathlete pool expanded,
our staff expanded.
We brought on a goalkeeper coach.
We brought on other technicaldirectors, athletic
trainers, strength conditioning coaches,everyone's volunteer, including myself,
everyone's self-funded, including myself.
We all have day jobs.
We all have legitimate things going on.
(05:50):
Everything else is is added to it.
So it's incredible.
It's a lot,but it's a very unique experience.
And I'm sure we'll talkabout the idea
of getting it into the Paralympic Gamesthat's on the horizon.
So I'll leave that question for you.
We'll get we'll get that.
But that's pretty much it in a nutshell.
You know, it's how it all started.
And it goes back to,I always say goes back to Rita
(06:10):
Clinton playinghere in the 70s and playing team
handball out of Auburn,and she's a Hall of Fame athlete
here at Auburn University.
And if it wasn't for her,I really don't think that I
would be sitting here.
I don't think any of our staffwould be doing what we're doing.
I don't think we would have that exposureon the team USA level for the sport.
She's really the pioneer.
She wrote the book.
I Have It in my office, the literal book.
(06:32):
She actually wrote a book.
Team handball, read a clan.
It's in my office.
It's signed by her and everything.
And I tell her, I'm like,you wrote the book.
You're going to be on the staff.
Yeah.
She just she's so chilland so humble
and just smiles and grateful and like,we got the dogs on the staff.
So let's get the athletesand let's make it happen. Absolutely.
I think it's one thingwe've talked about here a lot.
We talked about with extension.
We talked about it with other programswe've had on here that Auburn is doing
(06:57):
some really incredible stuff in Auburnin the community with their students.
But I think some of the coolest stuffthat Auburn does is
when it goes outside of Auburn,outside of the state,
outside of the country, even.
And to have a US national team herethat's going to compete in Europe,
in France,you know, doing all of this
and it kind of doing it for the country,but also doing it for the university.
(07:18):
And it's based here with Auburn people.
Is is pretty impressive for sure.
Now Jay.
I wanted to this is your chance here.
You're a converted basketball player.
Yeah.
Spent time in hoops.
Don't get choked up on me now.
How did you make thetransition from hoops?
Which I understandyou've been playing most of your life
(07:40):
to the team handball years.
Yeah.
Well,so the conversion for me, it was
it wasn't really hardbecause a lot of the fundamental aspects
of just adaptive sports in generalare kind of universal.
So like your chairskills, making sure that your wheelchair
is just an extension of your body.
I mean, you need to know how to moveregardless of whatever sport you play.
(08:03):
That'd be helpful.
Yeah, very.
You know, and then defensebeing able
to know how to stop a chairwhen it stop a chair and spacing
all of that is pretty much the same.
Except,you know, it's only three people
plus a goalkeeper.
So it's just like a tighterthe tighter net to hold on to.
And you want to force them outjust like wheelchair.
Well, it's the oppositeof what your basketball
(08:24):
because you want toforce them to the mid. But
the communicationall of that a lot
a lot of skills just transferred over.
The hardest part was learninghow to dribble differently,
you know, short a little muscle memory.
Yeah.
You knowbecause with the basketball,
not only with the basketballbeing bigger,
but you can just dribblehowever you need to, you know.
(08:45):
But with a handballeverything has to be like overhand.
Can't do too much fancy word, you know.
But and then the otherthe other aspect I would say
is getting used to using my entire bodyfor shooting,
because at least with basketball,it's just one motion up here.
(09:06):
I mean, you start out in your pocket,but you can bring it up and handball.
You're using your entire upper body,this entire windmill mechanic.
And with me, it'skind of a learning curve,
but I'm I love learning anyway,so that's great.
I noticed he'sdemonstrating as he's doing it.
It's just an excuse to show off the guns.
(09:28):
It's pretty nice.
It's yeah, that's good form.
They kind of help.
They help, they help, they help. So.
But you spent time at Auburnso you're alum.
You spent time in Auburnplaying wheelchair basketball here.
Yeah.
Walk me through some of those.
Experience some of your favorite memoriesfrom that as well.
Oh well of coursemy number one favorite is one
that NetEase this past season.
Yeah there we go. There we go.
(09:48):
Especially against Bama you know war.
Damn it. Yeah.
But it's also justcreating my brotherhood.
You know some of my teammatesthese are going to be lifelong friends.
You know Jake EastwoodI came in as freshmen with him.
And now he's just an all timeleading scorer in Auburn.
And I mean like across ablebodied basketball that's what we call it.
(10:11):
And wheelchair basketball.
But being around team USA level athletesbecause we have Drew Beutel,
we have Adam Smith,a lot of other athletes
who have made itto try out for team USA
or have made it onto team USA,so just playing with
other high level athleteswhile also being able to,
(10:34):
you know, better.
Myself as an athlete,man, I can't even if I
if I start talkingtoo much, it's going to be too long,
you know,and I know we have a little
bit of a time.
Hey, man, let's go.
Let's get into rip it, rip it.
But it all stemmed from coach Rob.
Without having a good coach,I honestly would not be here.
I've been around coachfor over ten years,
(10:56):
so I kind of already knewI was going to come to Auburn.
He coached my juniors,wheelchair basketball coach Emily Hoskins
in the Olympics.
They won bronze.
And then just to find out,he continued to keep coaching after that
and be a three timeParalympic winning coach.
You know, I was like, you know what?
It's pretty good. Yeah.
(11:17):
And and and everything.
Auburn podcast alum Coach Robert.
Exactly. He's just a everything man.
You knowthat's something I want to follow.
And so just to have someone like himwho is as experienced as he is,
being able to accumulateall this talent to build up the program,
he said it was going tobe a ten year process,
and he trusts for itand he has a ten year process.
(11:38):
So I'm just surrounded by greatness.
So I mean,that's that's one thing
that really sticks out to me in Auburn.
I don't think I would likeany other school as much.
And then another one of myfavorite core memories is actually just
there's this guy on Whitewater, right?
(12:00):
No, no, no,you said it. This one out.
No no no you don't. We won't. We?
It was also during nationals.
But you know coach hewe kind of had to just we didn't
let him do what he wanted to do,but we did at the same time.
And coachkind of got a little upset
or just passionate, we'll say.
And he said he saw me and said, JT,stop a chair, you know.
(12:21):
And Sara went out there.
You know,we got defensive turnover after turnover
and turnoverlike we were getting defensive stops.
And he had like four fouls already.
As soon as I come out thereI just stopped his chair
and we have a picture of it.
He's pretty muchjust sitting in my lap
with the basketball in his hand.
Sheriff came so good.
(12:41):
And like I think my dad has itas a wallpaper on his phone.
And it's just like an iconic momentin my head because just
I pride myself on defense, you know,you can ask for,
you can ask yourself,defense is where I shine.
And that right there,especially during nationals
where it's being broadcasted.
Oh yeah, it's nice.
(13:02):
That's a that's a key moment for me.
So you mentionedhe mentioned that you have a ten
year plan.
So here we go.
It's a great chance part of thatgetting into the Paralympic Games,
what that process isand what the future is coming up
and what's whole walk me through thatwhy you want
you know, why you want to do it.
I think that's pretty obviouswhy you want to do it, what the plan is
(13:23):
and how you kind of gotten to whereand what the future's
holding for you guys.
It started in 2022with the first Wheelchair
Handball World Championshipsin Cairo, Egypt.
There were only six teamsthere at the time. We were not there.
We didn't start until 24.
Like I said earlier,once 24 started, we got into the mix.
It's good for every sport.
When team USA gets involved,it just elevates everything.
(13:45):
So selfishly.
We wanted to be involved,but also globally.
We knew there could be a greater impactif we were able to perform
at a high enough levelto get more traction, more eyes,
more ears, more awarenesson this sport globally.
So once 24 hits, 25 comes aroundsilver, bronze, now 26, 26.
We've named this year Operation Gold.
(14:05):
We have the opportunityto in two major competitions
and they're essentially back to back.
We head out June 24th to France.
We play the first through the fifthand July.
We returned August.
Recalibrate ready to go againfor Barcelona, Spain.
That'll be September 14th to the 21st.
That's World Championships 12 teams.
So the amount of teams is already doubledsince the first World Championships.
(14:26):
So the growth of the sportis constantly moving forward
in the right direction.
Your question about the ten yearplan 2032 is the first opportunity
for this sportto be in a Paralympic Games
on full Paralympic docket,full Paralympic conclusion.
So we work backwards from that process.
I came into it on year two,so it's really an eight year plan,
(14:48):
but I envision itmoving forward past 2032 of course.
Right. Well hopefully. Right.
Exactly.
So hopefully there'ssustainability with it.
So with that we were askedwe as in all of the federations
around the world, all 25we were asked to submit
our current statusis what they called it.
And to me it was another dissertation.
It was insane.
It was all details Ato Z alpha to a mega,
(15:11):
down to the granular levelon all the nuances
of everything they wanted.
The A's dottedthe T's cross and even the JS dotted.
Wow.
And so wesubmitted that to the International
Handball Federation,which is our international
governing body.
They submitted that tothe International Paralympic Committee
to determinethey get a whole slate
of different sports,and they determine
(15:32):
they make the decision on onceor this one once or this one
next time, next time. Good luck.
So we are waiting right nowin the board minutes.
Just this past January, a few months ago,it says direct quote,
everything looks promising.
All box have been checked.
Essentiallywe're just waiting on a few more things.
And those few things arethe upcoming World Championships
(15:52):
because Oceana,namely Australia and New Zealand,
they're interested inbuilding programs as well.
So the global reach is getting broaderand broader, which is really important.
And I'm trying tohave as many foreign relations
as possible.
It's challenging right now,to say the least,
that's getting to talk tosome of these countries
and people and absolutely.
Yeah, a lot of WhatsApp's,a lot of zoom calls, a lot of emailing,
(16:16):
a lot of shaking hands and kissing babiesand just trying to come
with an olive branch.
I think a lot of timeswhen you show up with stars and Stripes
can go one of two ways,especially now
with geopolitical happening.
It's like,look, we're trying to elevate this sport.
Don't judge me for anything else.
I'm going to bring the best teamof athletes, the best staff possible,
and we'll tryto get this to the next level.
(16:37):
So there's a lot of thingswe have control of,
but there are even more thingsthat we have no control of,
and we just have to have the faithand just stay with the process
that this is supposed to happen.
And I have to make surethat I'm setting myself up for six years
ahead of time today, which is challengingbecause you have everything else
(16:58):
that is leading upto an upcoming competition
a training camp, selectionprocess, recruitment,
nurturing athletes,making sure people
are submitting materials.
That's a lot. Anything and everything.
Yeah we are.
We're a tight familyand we do a lot of different work,
but every coach has to be ableto do about ten jobs at once.
And that's the nature of adaptedathletics in general.
So I was you know, you mentioned earlieryou have day jobs as well.
(17:23):
Right?
So I think this is a good chanceto kind of mention that here,
because I've heard you use a lot of wordsthat I would imagine
associate more with your day job. Right.
So you're director of mindfulnessat Auburn as well? Correct.
Yeah.
You know, coaching a teamadaptive like cultivating this,
you know, as your babyand kind of building it from nothing.
(17:45):
I'm curiouskind of how you've managed
to add some of those elements.
I'm curious what you've you've seen himdo as well from that like mental process
and that mindfulness processthat if you could walk me
through some of that stuff as well,because I think,
I think a lot of it applies inhow you've been able to grow this
from nothing to where it is todayand where it's hoping to go for sure.
As well said. It's a great question.
(18:06):
I think what's interestingabout all the different hats
that I wear, it's each dayit's a different hat each
maybe our it's a different hatand you know, there's
there's titles and there's rolesand there's responsibilities.
But to meit's it's all in Auburn experience.
It's all interconnected.
Whether I'm in a classroomteaching students,
whether I'm deliveringa speaking engagement
through mindfulness at Auburn,whether I'm doing research
(18:27):
data collection,whether I'm at a conference, travel
and disseminating information,whether I'm coaching on the sideline,
whether I'm working with our athletesfor performance coaching,
working them with nutritionor sleep or exercise or anything.
From a recovery standpoint,to me, it's all interconnected.
It just depends on what microphones, onwhat screens on, what cameras on.
(18:49):
And I can get into that roleand get into that hat.
So as far as embeddingall of this together, it's my story.
And it's a lot of it is is my mission,you know, and it's a way to
continue to impact the worldand leave it a little bit
better than what I found it.
I mean, we're not here that long,as far as I'm concerned.
So I'm trying to makesure that I have a great reach
(19:11):
and be able to return that investmentbecause of all the mentors,
because of all the peoplethat have passed that baton to me.
I just want to make sure that I leave itin the right hands
and to elevateanyone that I interface with,
whether it's athlete, coach, you know,a journalist that doesn't think
we're going to play in the final match.
And I tell them, direct quotewill play in the final match.
(19:33):
Whatever it is,is just elevate the experience
and make sure that we'reall moving in the right direction. Sweet.
That's awesome.
Now, J, I wanted to talkabout your day job as well,
which is a bit of a shift here,but if I understand correctly,
you're a bit of a TikTok star.
Okay? You know, I was going to stay.
I was going to say a student maybe,but you know that to those that too.
(19:54):
But yeah, just kind ofsome of the things
that goes around your life as well.
But one thing that we have found throughour research is, is your many
a TikTok challenges as well,which I have officially dubbed
your day job. Yes.
Well, it's funnyyou say that because I've been thinking
about getting back into TikTok,but I kind of
did that because of Covidand because of how my mom raised me.
(20:16):
She said,you're not going to let your disability
stop you with anything that you do,nor will I let you be lazy.
So during Covid, you know,it was kind of pretty hard
to find something,quote unquote, productive time
to be lazy. Yeah.
But as a house,I mean, we would work around the house
as a family.
We were able to clean up our house.
We have a new ramp in front of it now.
(20:37):
But for TikTok,I was like, you know what?
Let's this is a time where folks needto be exposed to more than just
what is in their box.
And I was like,what better way than to show them that?
Hey. Hi, guys.
I'm going to wheelchair,but I live the exact same as you.
I'm still living my liferegardless of the shutdown that we had.
(20:58):
And so I just wanted tobrighten everyone's day.
And that's kind of how I.
Everything I didfrom all the requests, you know,
it started out with a pushup challenge, you know,
and kind of just took off from there.
But because I went to college,I kind of stopped
because I wanted to focus on my studies.
That's good.
You know, that was smartdoing that plays basketball at the time.
(21:21):
I'm in graphic designand that actually takes a lot
of resources.
No, it'snot just an arts and crafts major
because yeah,no, there's a lot from our heart.
I'm an artiste artiste as well.
So I guess you understandI just kind of French a little.
There's a little bit. Yeah.
And so I've just I startedspending a lot of hours in the studio
(21:42):
and it was kind of sad to see my TikTokjust like slowly fading to the distance.
But now, as I've completed my wheelchairbasketball career,
it opened up a little bit of freetime to where I might combined doing
TikToks with some of the streamingto fill in some of those gaps.
But I'm also doingsenior project at the same time,
so it's going to be a littlebit of a mix. There's a lot.
(22:04):
There's a lot.
Yeah, but I can only imaginesome of the fun things,
you know,being a part of an international team,
get to go some pretty cool places,see some cool sights,
do some really incredible traveling.
And I can only imagine some experienceyou guys have had
outside of actually playing.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, experiences.
That's a good way.
(22:25):
Yeah, experience isprobably the best word.
I mean,the views are also like beautiful.
Just even though it was my firstand only time
being out of the country like that,being in Leone, it was just beautiful.
You know, we even went to a cathedral.
That was my firstlike actual legitimate,
like European style Gothic cathedral.
And it was like, wow.
(22:45):
I took art historyliterally a semester
before I was like, wow, I studied that,I know,
I know what kind of art stylelike a fresco painting was.
I was like, what kind of paint?
They got flying buttresses?
Yeah. I was like, wow.
Why do I know about this?
But it was actually sickto be able to apply in the knowledge
that I got from schoolin the outside world,
because you get to appreciate it more.
(23:05):
And then to do that with Fordand some of the guys
that I've known for years,it was just like for some reason
it was really bonding to me.
Know that makes a lot of sense.
Vibes. It's good vibes.
Yeah, that's good vibes.
Well, I wanted to make sure we got to,we got to the
we're at the Shameless plugpart of the podcast here where you get to
to shout out your stuff.
This is this is the this is the ask part.
(23:26):
So I want to make sure you got a chanceto talk about 24 fun
and then any other opportunitiesthat people listening
can find you to watch youto, to go travel,
see you events you have.
This is this is your moment.
This is your shining moment.
Awesome. I'll work backwards.
So I'm not a big social media guruor anything like that,
(23:49):
but I understandthe value of the leverage
it helps and the tractionand the like and subscribe.
And you know, the algorithmshit the bell, hit the bell.
You know,hit the notification button,
whatever else they say.
JD anyway, he's the pro,but we've got Instagram account
that you can follow uson USA wheelchair handball.
And all of our informationis on that as well.
(24:11):
We have websites for USA WheelchairHandball National team.
And what's interesting about social mediaso far
is that when this episode comes out,we're on the verge of a title sponsor,
and there's a large communitythat the title sponsor has,
and we're really excitedfor putting some gas,
a lot of gas on the firewhen it comes to the reach
(24:32):
from a global standpoint, not so much.
Just adopted athleticsone region of the country.
Yes, we're a decentralized national team.
Yes, we're travelingand training internationally.
This would be more a catalystto really get the world to wake up to
what we're doing and lead up toboth France and Spain this year
and beyond for LA 28 and Brisbane 32.
(24:52):
So that's TBD.
There's a few more thingsthat need to be finalized.
I'll be on the lookout.
Please be on the lookout.
It's going to be exciting.
And then as far as the 24fund is concerned,
that's a nonprofitthat was started on behalf of myself
and some of my family, namely my mother.
She's a CFO.
She's been doing this for about 40 years.
And when it comes tothe correct appropriations
(25:14):
of funds and sources and usesand making
sure that the secretarialand the Treasury work is done to a tee,
we're in a leak team.
We also have to makesure our books are leaked
to ensure that we have the right supportfor our athletes,
even though they're self-fundedand they're trying to get themselves
to training campswhen we ship out on final roster,
I don't want any athlete,any staff member worrying about anything
(25:36):
except for what's at stake.
And what's at stakeis, of course, like we said,
Operation Gold.
So that nonprofit was startedwith myself, my mother and my uncle.
He is our vice presidentand he's been an executive
for over 35 years.
You know,I pulled some boomers in for a reason.
Hey, they're pretty smartand they know how to get the job done
and they've got a lot of reach.
And so it's another hat I have to wear.
(26:00):
But add it to the pot.
You know,it's just because of the formality.
Making sure that this pilot program, USAhandball is, is provided
with the right resources.
But after that, once we're in 32,we bring in the gold medal.
I don't know if I'll coach forever.
You know,I kind of I'll make that determination.
But one thing that I see myselfdoing is running that nonprofit
(26:21):
and making sure that not just one sport,wheelchair handball,
is provided with resources.
Any team USA adaptedathlete in any sport,
it could be an adaptive,it could be a pair surfer
Paris, no border blind, soccer, anythingas long as they're competing
for their country,United States of America,
and at a eitherworld championship or a Paralympic level,
(26:43):
then we would like to providegrants and resources
and make surethat their support for them,
there's exposure for them.
It's an underserved population,and that's unfortunate.
So we're trying to make surebarriers are reduced
and doors are openfor those athletes to be able to perform
at the highest level. Spectacular.
So it's the 24 fund.
There you go. Come check us out.
(27:04):
We will like and subscribe.
Like and subscribe.
That's it.
And then you want you want.
This is your chance.
You want people to follow you on social.
This is if you want to build the TikTok.
Here's your chance.
GuessI guess I want to get back on TikTok.
It's JS TV underscore wheeze.
So like j s TV underscore w h e.
(27:26):
That actually was a typowhen I first made it.
It was supposed to be Will's,but then I saw weeds.
I was like, wait a minute,that's actually funny.
And so I kept it.
This guy, and that's incredible.
And then I mean, happy accidents, right?
Yeah.
And then my Instagram,I need to change it.
I had it just since middle school.
It's also typo JD I might changejust that, but it's implicit.
(27:51):
J implicate with two eyes.
I just haven't changed itbecause
I have no idea what I would change it to.
It's one of those thingswhere you've had it so long.
We're just like,what am I going to do with you?
And thenif I'm going to get back into streaming
nitro boomingall over the place, it's
(28:15):
a it's a lot of the place.
Well, gentlemen,I thank you for joining me.
Thanks for telling a little bitabout what you guys do.
Good luck.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
Good.
I know, I understandyou're about to finalize the team,
so hopefully you make it.
Fingers crossed. Right.
We said fingers crossed.
Well, good luck with all your travels.
Operation gold.
I'm so excited to see where you guys go.
Hopefully you guys win everything.
(28:35):
That's the plan. That's the plan.
That's the plan.
I love it and thank you guys so much.
Thank you for having us.
Thank you for listening.
We'll be back again next monthwith more members of the Auburn family.
If you like what you heard,you want to hear more.
We got a lot of more episodes.
We've done oneevery month for a few years now.
So if you want to hear some more,people want to hear coach Rob
from a few months ago,he was on here
talking to some wheelchair basketball,so we got him to listen to.
(28:57):
But until then, War Eagle!War Eagle!
Welcome intoEverything Auburn, the monthly podcast
we have here on the campus,Auburn University.
We get to meetmembers of the Auburn family
and get to learn more about what they doand what makes them so special.
I'm Carter,and I'm so glad that you're here.
Joining me I got two specialtheir very talkative and fun guests.
We've already had a good timebefore we recorded,
so I'm looking forward to this one.
I have Ford Dyke Head Coach,USA, Wheelchair Handball
(00:29):
National Team and member.
Hopefully.
I guess we just got to make surethe team gets announced here, so we're
fingers crossed.
On member of wheelchairnational handball team Jay Denning.
Welcome to the podcast gentlemen.
Thank you card. Appreciate it.
You guys for having us.
Hey I'm glad you guys are here.
I'm looking forward to it.
I want to know everything aboutteam handball, how it started.
You're we're talkingon the way over here, if I may.
(00:51):
Godfather of the team.
You've created the team out of nowhere.
A lot of workI can only imagine went into it.
Well, walk me through how we started to.
How we got here,how Auburn became the home for this,
which is so incrediblefor a US national team
that is here at Auburn.
How do we get to where we're at?
It's a long story to say the least.
I'll keep it as condensed as possible.
(01:13):
So I started here in 2012as a master's student.
When I came off of undergraduatestudies in psychology,
I decided to come to Auburnand study the human body.
So exercise science was my fieldin the school of kinesiology.
One year later,I tried out for the men's Indoor
National team,which there was a residency program here
on campusfrom 2013 to about 2018 for five years.
(01:35):
And I played all the way through Covid.
Once Covid hit, my coach retired.
I retired.
All the while.
I had thought about coachingduring that process
in that sport specifically,but I just didn't really ever
think of the way it would transpire,how it is now.
And so, as an aside,during the 2012 to 2020 window,
(01:56):
I was on the sidelineand still am on the sideline
with Auburn adoptedathletics, specifically
wheelchair basketball.
And I always thought those worldswere pretty separate and isolated
until one of my formerteammates from the national governing
body of USA, Team Handball,gave me a call November of 23.
And he said,are you aware of wheelchair handball?
(02:17):
And I thought it was kind of a typo.
I thought he was trying to talkabout basketball.
Yeah, yeah.
And I said, no,man, I've never heard of this.
What's going on?
And he said,there's about 20 teams
at the time around the world.
It started in the 90s.
US was interested.
They want to submit a wild cardto the upcoming World Championships,
which is September of 2024.
And he said,we can't really think of anyone else
(02:38):
that has indoor elite experiencefrom the athletic side of team handball.
I played beach as welland wheelchair
specific coaching experience,so we thought, well,
let's smash those worlds togetherand assign you as the head coach.
What do you think?
I'm like,oh yeah, I have nothing else going on.
Figure it out. Yeah, sure.
But he said, you know,we don't have resources. We don't.
(03:00):
You don't have a team,you don't have coaches,
you don't even have goals.
You don't have equipment or balls.
You have nothing.
So do you still want to do it?
And I was like,give me like 48 hours,
you know, let me,let me like marinate
a little bit on this one for a second.
So my first call was OlympianRita Clinton.
At the time we had worked togetherfrom 2012 and beyond.
And and she said, I'm all in.
(03:21):
And I was like, allright, well, we can't go back now.
You know, I gotI got my first Olympian on staff.
That's great.
And then that justevolved to the second Olympian,
Lisa Egan,at a Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
And she's a 96 Olympian.
She's actually read as athlete.
Rita was a coach in 96.
So you'll start to see how crazythis family lineage starts to,
you know, evolve.
Quite the big family tree here.
(03:42):
It's pretty wild. Yeah.
And so we started talkingto Anthony
turtling over at Auburn Opelika Tourismwho we had relationships
before ten years before that.
And he said I'm all in.
We'll talk to Robin Bridges.
We'll figure some things out.
And so this is all about Januarythrough March, maybe April of 24.
And we're just trying to getthings set up in a way
(04:04):
that if we receive the wild card,we would be ready to go.
And so May 16th. My phone rings.
Never forget it.
And they said, hey, we got the wild card.
You still, you still in,you still committed.
I was like, oh man, this is crazy.
You know,starting something from nothing
and then going toa world championship level to compete
is probably not the smartest thing to do.
(04:25):
But, you know,I said whatever, let's do it.
And end of the deep end.
Yeah.
We just fully went inand I said to a lot of the staff
and a lot of the early recruitsthat were not just going there
to show up and participate.
We want to make sure that we playin the final match for that gold medal.
And people like,I don't know about all that.
He's kind of crazy to say that.
But like the confidence,yeah, you have to go
(04:47):
with, you know,what's in sight and reverse
engineer and work backwards. Sothat is a whole other
documentary and of itself.
We ended up winning the silver medaland that really kickstarted the program,
which was wild.
We lost to Egypt in the final match.
We took down Brazilin a double shootout in semis,
which they were the reigning champions,and it shocked the world.
(05:07):
That was really our gold medal matchlike as an aside.
And so we returned in September.
It took me about a monthto really figure out
what day or time it was,just because of everything that happened
leading up to that.
And then once we got tothat December into the next cycle of 25,
our phone rang againand France reached out
and they said, hey,we want to invite you.
Your top team alreadycome on over, compete in this tournament.
(05:29):
And that's really where our eliteathlete pool expanded,
our staff expanded.
We brought on a goalkeeper coach.
We brought on other technicaldirectors, athletic
trainers, strength conditioning coaches,everyone's volunteer, including myself,
everyone's self-funded, including myself.
We all have day jobs.
We all have legitimate things going on.
(05:50):
Everything else is is added to it.
So it's incredible.
It's a lot,but it's a very unique experience.
And I'm sure we'll talkabout the idea
of getting it into the Paralympic Gamesthat's on the horizon.
So I'll leave that question for you.
We'll get we'll get that.
But that's pretty much it in a nutshell.
You know, it's how it all started.
And it goes back to,I always say goes back to Rita
(06:10):
Clinton playinghere in the 70s and playing team
handball out of Auburn,and she's a Hall of Fame athlete
here at Auburn University.
And if it wasn't for her,I really don't think that I
would be sitting here.
I don't think any of our staffwould be doing what we're doing.
I don't think we would have that exposureon the team USA level for the sport.
She's really the pioneer.
She wrote the book.
I Have It in my office, the literal book.
(06:32):
She actually wrote a book.
Team handball, read a clan.
It's in my office.
It's signed by her and everything.
And I tell her, I'm like,you wrote the book.
You're going to be on the staff.
Yeah.
She just she's so chilland so humble
and just smiles and grateful and like,we got the dogs on the staff.
So let's get the athletesand let's make it happen. Absolutely.
I think it's one thingwe've talked about here a lot.
We talked about with extension.
We talked about it with other programswe've had on here that Auburn is doing
(06:57):
some really incredible stuff in Auburnin the community with their students.
But I think some of the coolest stuffthat Auburn does is
when it goes outside of Auburn,outside of the state,
outside of the country, even.
And to have a US national team herethat's going to compete in Europe,
in France,you know, doing all of this
and it kind of doing it for the country,but also doing it for the university.
(07:18):
And it's based here with Auburn people.
Is is pretty impressive for sure.
Now Jay.
I wanted to this is your chance here.
You're a converted basketball player.
Yeah.
Spent time in hoops.
Don't get choked up on me now.
How did you make thetransition from hoops?
Which I understandyou've been playing most of your life
(07:40):
to the team handball years.
Yeah.
Well,so the conversion for me, it was
it wasn't really hardbecause a lot of the fundamental aspects
of just adaptive sports in generalare kind of universal.
So like your chairskills, making sure that your wheelchair
is just an extension of your body.
I mean, you need to know how to moveregardless of whatever sport you play.
(08:03):
That'd be helpful.
Yeah, very.
You know, and then defensebeing able
to know how to stop a chairwhen it stop a chair and spacing
all of that is pretty much the same.
Except,you know, it's only three people
plus a goalkeeper.
So it's just like a tighterthe tighter net to hold on to.
And you want to force them outjust like wheelchair.
Well, it's the oppositeof what your basketball
(08:24):
because you want toforce them to the mid. But
the communicationall of that a lot
a lot of skills just transferred over.
The hardest part was learninghow to dribble differently,
you know, short a little muscle memory.
Yeah.
You knowbecause with the basketball,
not only with the basketballbeing bigger,
but you can just dribblehowever you need to, you know.
(08:45):
But with a handballeverything has to be like overhand.
Can't do too much fancy word, you know.
But and then the otherthe other aspect I would say
is getting used to using my entire bodyfor shooting,
because at least with basketball,it's just one motion up here.
(09:06):
I mean, you start out in your pocket,but you can bring it up and handball.
You're using your entire upper body,this entire windmill mechanic.
And with me, it'skind of a learning curve,
but I'm I love learning anyway,so that's great.
I noticed he'sdemonstrating as he's doing it.
It's just an excuse to show off the guns.
(09:28):
It's pretty nice.
It's yeah, that's good form.
They kind of help.
They help, they help, they help. So.
But you spent time at Auburnso you're alum.
You spent time in Auburnplaying wheelchair basketball here.
Yeah.
Walk me through some of those.
Experience some of your favorite memoriesfrom that as well.
Oh well of coursemy number one favorite is one
that NetEase this past season.
Yeah there we go. There we go.
(09:48):
Especially against Bama you know war.
Damn it. Yeah.
But it's also justcreating my brotherhood.
You know some of my teammatesthese are going to be lifelong friends.
You know Jake EastwoodI came in as freshmen with him.
And now he's just an all timeleading scorer in Auburn.
And I mean like across ablebodied basketball that's what we call it.
(10:11):
And wheelchair basketball.
But being around team USA level athletesbecause we have Drew Beutel,
we have Adam Smith,a lot of other athletes
who have made itto try out for team USA
or have made it onto team USA,so just playing with
other high level athleteswhile also being able to,
(10:34):
you know, better.
Myself as an athlete,man, I can't even if I
if I start talkingtoo much, it's going to be too long,
you know,and I know we have a little
bit of a time.
Hey, man, let's go.
Let's get into rip it, rip it.
But it all stemmed from coach Rob.
Without having a good coach,I honestly would not be here.
I've been around coachfor over ten years,
(10:56):
so I kind of already knewI was going to come to Auburn.
He coached my juniors,wheelchair basketball coach Emily Hoskins
in the Olympics.
They won bronze.
And then just to find out,he continued to keep coaching after that
and be a three timeParalympic winning coach.
You know, I was like, you know what?
It's pretty good. Yeah.
(11:17):
And and and everything.
Auburn podcast alum Coach Robert.
Exactly. He's just a everything man.
You knowthat's something I want to follow.
And so just to have someone like himwho is as experienced as he is,
being able to accumulateall this talent to build up the program,
he said it was going tobe a ten year process,
and he trusts for itand he has a ten year process.
(11:38):
So I'm just surrounded by greatness.
So I mean,that's that's one thing
that really sticks out to me in Auburn.
I don't think I would likeany other school as much.
And then another one of myfavorite core memories is actually just
there's this guy on Whitewater, right?
(12:00):
No, no, no,you said it. This one out.
No no no you don't. We won't. We?
It was also during nationals.
But you know coach hewe kind of had to just we didn't
let him do what he wanted to do,but we did at the same time.
And coachkind of got a little upset
or just passionate, we'll say.
And he said he saw me and said, JT,stop a chair, you know.
(12:21):
And Sara went out there.
You know,we got defensive turnover after turnover
and turnoverlike we were getting defensive stops.
And he had like four fouls already.
As soon as I come out thereI just stopped his chair
and we have a picture of it.
He's pretty muchjust sitting in my lap
with the basketball in his hand.
Sheriff came so good.
(12:41):
And like I think my dad has itas a wallpaper on his phone.
And it's just like an iconic momentin my head because just
I pride myself on defense, you know,you can ask for,
you can ask yourself,defense is where I shine.
And that right there,especially during nationals
where it's being broadcasted.
Oh yeah, it's nice.
(13:02):
That's a that's a key moment for me.
So you mentionedhe mentioned that you have a ten
year plan.
So here we go.
It's a great chance part of thatgetting into the Paralympic Games,
what that process isand what the future is coming up
and what's whole walk me through thatwhy you want
you know, why you want to do it.
I think that's pretty obviouswhy you want to do it, what the plan is
(13:23):
and how you kind of gotten to whereand what the future's
holding for you guys.
It started in 2022with the first Wheelchair
Handball World Championshipsin Cairo, Egypt.
There were only six teamsthere at the time. We were not there.
We didn't start until 24.
Like I said earlier,once 24 started, we got into the mix.
It's good for every sport.
When team USA gets involved,it just elevates everything.
(13:45):
So selfishly.
We wanted to be involved,but also globally.
We knew there could be a greater impactif we were able to perform
at a high enough levelto get more traction, more eyes,
more ears, more awarenesson this sport globally.
So once 24 hits, 25 comes aroundsilver, bronze, now 26, 26.
We've named this year Operation Gold.
(14:05):
We have the opportunityto in two major competitions
and they're essentially back to back.
We head out June 24th to France.
We play the first through the fifthand July.
We returned August.
Recalibrate ready to go againfor Barcelona, Spain.
That'll be September 14th to the 21st.
That's World Championships 12 teams.
So the amount of teams is already doubledsince the first World Championships.
(14:26):
So the growth of the sportis constantly moving forward
in the right direction.
Your question about the ten yearplan 2032 is the first opportunity
for this sportto be in a Paralympic Games
on full Paralympic docket,full Paralympic conclusion.
So we work backwards from that process.
I came into it on year two,so it's really an eight year plan,
(14:48):
but I envision itmoving forward past 2032 of course.
Right. Well hopefully. Right.
Exactly.
So hopefully there'ssustainability with it.
So with that we were askedwe as in all of the federations
around the world, all 25we were asked to submit
our current statusis what they called it.
And to me it was another dissertation.
It was insane.
It was all details Ato Z alpha to a mega,
(15:11):
down to the granular levelon all the nuances
of everything they wanted.
The A's dottedthe T's cross and even the JS dotted.
Wow.
And so wesubmitted that to the International
Handball Federation,which is our international
governing body.
They submitted that tothe International Paralympic Committee
to determinethey get a whole slate
of different sports,and they determine
(15:32):
they make the decision on onceor this one once or this one
next time, next time. Good luck.
So we are waiting right nowin the board minutes.
Just this past January, a few months ago,it says direct quote,
everything looks promising.
All box have been checked.
Essentiallywe're just waiting on a few more things.
And those few things arethe upcoming World Championships
(15:52):
because Oceana,namely Australia and New Zealand,
they're interested inbuilding programs as well.
So the global reach is getting broaderand broader, which is really important.
And I'm trying tohave as many foreign relations
as possible.
It's challenging right now,to say the least,
that's getting to talk tosome of these countries
and people and absolutely.
Yeah, a lot of WhatsApp's,a lot of zoom calls, a lot of emailing,
(16:16):
a lot of shaking hands and kissing babiesand just trying to come
with an olive branch.
I think a lot of timeswhen you show up with stars and Stripes
can go one of two ways,especially now
with geopolitical happening.
It's like,look, we're trying to elevate this sport.
Don't judge me for anything else.
I'm going to bring the best teamof athletes, the best staff possible,
and we'll tryto get this to the next level.
(16:37):
So there's a lot of thingswe have control of,
but there are even more thingsthat we have no control of,
and we just have to have the faithand just stay with the process
that this is supposed to happen.
And I have to make surethat I'm setting myself up for six years
ahead of time today, which is challengingbecause you have everything else
(16:58):
that is leading upto an upcoming competition
a training camp, selectionprocess, recruitment,
nurturing athletes,making sure people
are submitting materials.
That's a lot. Anything and everything.
Yeah we are.
We're a tight familyand we do a lot of different work,
but every coach has to be ableto do about ten jobs at once.
And that's the nature of adaptedathletics in general.
So I was you know, you mentioned earlieryou have day jobs as well.
(17:23):
Right?
So I think this is a good chanceto kind of mention that here,
because I've heard you use a lot of wordsthat I would imagine
associate more with your day job. Right.
So you're director of mindfulnessat Auburn as well? Correct.
Yeah.
You know, coaching a teamadaptive like cultivating this,
you know, as your babyand kind of building it from nothing.
(17:45):
I'm curiouskind of how you've managed
to add some of those elements.
I'm curious what you've you've seen himdo as well from that like mental process
and that mindfulness processthat if you could walk me
through some of that stuff as well,because I think,
I think a lot of it applies inhow you've been able to grow this
from nothing to where it is todayand where it's hoping to go for sure.
As well said. It's a great question.
(18:06):
I think what's interestingabout all the different hats
that I wear, it's each dayit's a different hat each
maybe our it's a different hatand you know, there's
there's titles and there's rolesand there's responsibilities.
But to meit's it's all in Auburn experience.
It's all interconnected.
Whether I'm in a classroomteaching students,
whether I'm deliveringa speaking engagement
through mindfulness at Auburn,whether I'm doing research
(18:27):
data collection,whether I'm at a conference, travel
and disseminating information,whether I'm coaching on the sideline,
whether I'm working with our athletesfor performance coaching,
working them with nutritionor sleep or exercise or anything.
From a recovery standpoint,to me, it's all interconnected.
It just depends on what microphones, onwhat screens on, what cameras on.
(18:49):
And I can get into that roleand get into that hat.
So as far as embeddingall of this together, it's my story.
And it's a lot of it is is my mission,you know, and it's a way to
continue to impact the worldand leave it a little bit
better than what I found it.
I mean, we're not here that long,as far as I'm concerned.
So I'm trying to makesure that I have a great reach
(19:11):
and be able to return that investmentbecause of all the mentors,
because of all the peoplethat have passed that baton to me.
I just want to make sure that I leave itin the right hands
and to elevateanyone that I interface with,
whether it's athlete, coach, you know,a journalist that doesn't think
we're going to play in the final match.
And I tell them, direct quotewill play in the final match.
(19:33):
Whatever it is,is just elevate the experience
and make sure that we'reall moving in the right direction. Sweet.
That's awesome.
Now, J, I wanted to talkabout your day job as well,
which is a bit of a shift here,but if I understand correctly,
you're a bit of a TikTok star.
Okay? You know, I was going to stay.
I was going to say a student maybe,but you know that to those that too.
(19:54):
But yeah, just kind ofsome of the things
that goes around your life as well.
But one thing that we have found throughour research is, is your many
a TikTok challenges as well,which I have officially dubbed
your day job. Yes.
Well, it's funnyyou say that because I've been thinking
about getting back into TikTok,but I kind of
did that because of Covidand because of how my mom raised me.
(20:16):
She said,you're not going to let your disability
stop you with anything that you do,nor will I let you be lazy.
So during Covid, you know,it was kind of pretty hard
to find something,quote unquote, productive time
to be lazy. Yeah.
But as a house,I mean, we would work around the house
as a family.
We were able to clean up our house.
We have a new ramp in front of it now.
(20:37):
But for TikTok,I was like, you know what?
Let's this is a time where folks needto be exposed to more than just
what is in their box.
And I was like,what better way than to show them that?
Hey. Hi, guys.
I'm going to wheelchair,but I live the exact same as you.
I'm still living my liferegardless of the shutdown that we had.
(20:58):
And so I just wanted tobrighten everyone's day.
And that's kind of how I.
Everything I didfrom all the requests, you know,
it started out with a pushup challenge, you know,
and kind of just took off from there.
But because I went to college,I kind of stopped
because I wanted to focus on my studies.
That's good.
You know, that was smartdoing that plays basketball at the time.
(21:21):
I'm in graphic designand that actually takes a lot
of resources.
No, it'snot just an arts and crafts major
because yeah,no, there's a lot from our heart.
I'm an artiste artiste as well.
So I guess you understandI just kind of French a little.
There's a little bit. Yeah.
And so I've just I startedspending a lot of hours in the studio
(21:42):
and it was kind of sad to see my TikTokjust like slowly fading to the distance.
But now, as I've completed my wheelchairbasketball career,
it opened up a little bit of freetime to where I might combined doing
TikToks with some of the streamingto fill in some of those gaps.
But I'm also doingsenior project at the same time,
so it's going to be a littlebit of a mix. There's a lot.
(22:04):
There's a lot.
Yeah, but I can only imaginesome of the fun things,
you know,being a part of an international team,
get to go some pretty cool places,see some cool sights,
do some really incredible traveling.
And I can only imagine some experienceyou guys have had
outside of actually playing.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, experiences.
That's a good way.
(22:25):
Yeah, experience isprobably the best word.
I mean,the views are also like beautiful.
Just even though it was my firstand only time
being out of the country like that,being in Leone, it was just beautiful.
You know, we even went to a cathedral.
That was my firstlike actual legitimate,
like European style Gothic cathedral.
And it was like, wow.
(22:45):
I took art historyliterally a semester
before I was like, wow, I studied that,I know,
I know what kind of art stylelike a fresco painting was.
I was like, what kind of paint?
They got flying buttresses?
Yeah. I was like, wow.
Why do I know about this?
But it was actually sickto be able to apply in the knowledge
that I got from schoolin the outside world,
because you get to appreciate it more.
(23:05):
And then to do that with Fordand some of the guys
that I've known for years,it was just like for some reason
it was really bonding to me.
Know that makes a lot of sense.
Vibes. It's good vibes.
Yeah, that's good vibes.
Well, I wanted to make sure we got to,we got to the
we're at the Shameless plugpart of the podcast here where you get to
to shout out your stuff.
This is this is the this is the ask part.
(23:26):
So I want to make sure you got a chanceto talk about 24 fun
and then any other opportunitiesthat people listening
can find you to watch youto, to go travel,
see you events you have.
This is this is your moment.
This is your shining moment.
Awesome. I'll work backwards.
So I'm not a big social media guruor anything like that,
(23:49):
but I understandthe value of the leverage
it helps and the tractionand the like and subscribe.
And you know, the algorithmshit the bell, hit the bell.
You know,hit the notification button,
whatever else they say.
JD anyway, he's the pro,but we've got Instagram account
that you can follow uson USA wheelchair handball.
And all of our informationis on that as well.
(24:11):
We have websites for USA WheelchairHandball National team.
And what's interesting about social mediaso far
is that when this episode comes out,we're on the verge of a title sponsor,
and there's a large communitythat the title sponsor has,
and we're really excitedfor putting some gas,
a lot of gas on the firewhen it comes to the reach
(24:32):
from a global standpoint, not so much.
Just adopted athleticsone region of the country.
Yes, we're a decentralized national team.
Yes, we're travelingand training internationally.
This would be more a catalystto really get the world to wake up to
what we're doing and lead up toboth France and Spain this year
and beyond for LA 28 and Brisbane 32.
(24:52):
So that's TBD.
There's a few more thingsthat need to be finalized.
I'll be on the lookout.
Please be on the lookout.
It's going to be exciting.
And then as far as the 24fund is concerned,
that's a nonprofitthat was started on behalf of myself
and some of my family, namely my mother.
She's a CFO.
She's been doing this for about 40 years.
And when it comes tothe correct appropriations
(25:14):
of funds and sources and usesand making
sure that the secretarialand the Treasury work is done to a tee,
we're in a leak team.
We also have to makesure our books are leaked
to ensure that we have the right supportfor our athletes,
even though they're self-fundedand they're trying to get themselves
to training campswhen we ship out on final roster,
I don't want any athlete,any staff member worrying about anything
(25:36):
except for what's at stake.
And what's at stakeis, of course, like we said,
Operation Gold.
So that nonprofit was startedwith myself, my mother and my uncle.
He is our vice presidentand he's been an executive
for over 35 years.
You know,I pulled some boomers in for a reason.
Hey, they're pretty smartand they know how to get the job done
and they've got a lot of reach.
And so it's another hat I have to wear.
(26:00):
But add it to the pot.
You know,it's just because of the formality.
Making sure that this pilot program, USAhandball is, is provided
with the right resources.
But after that, once we're in 32,we bring in the gold medal.
I don't know if I'll coach forever.
You know,I kind of I'll make that determination.
But one thing that I see myselfdoing is running that nonprofit
(26:21):
and making sure that not just one sport,wheelchair handball,
is provided with resources.
Any team USA adaptedathlete in any sport,
it could be an adaptive,it could be a pair surfer
Paris, no border blind, soccer, anythingas long as they're competing
for their country,United States of America,
and at a eitherworld championship or a Paralympic level,
(26:43):
then we would like to providegrants and resources
and make surethat their support for them,
there's exposure for them.
It's an underserved population,and that's unfortunate.
So we're trying to make surebarriers are reduced
and doors are openfor those athletes to be able to perform
at the highest level. Spectacular.
So it's the 24 fund.
There you go. Come check us out.
(27:04):
We will like and subscribe.
Like and subscribe.
That's it.
And then you want you want.
This is your chance.
You want people to follow you on social.
This is if you want to build the TikTok.
Here's your chance.
GuessI guess I want to get back on TikTok.
It's JS TV underscore wheeze.
So like j s TV underscore w h e.
(27:26):
That actually was a typowhen I first made it.
It was supposed to be Will's,but then I saw weeds.
I was like, wait a minute,that's actually funny.
And so I kept it.
This guy, and that's incredible.
And then I mean, happy accidents, right?
Yeah.
And then my Instagram,I need to change it.
I had it just since middle school.
It's also typo JD I might changejust that, but it's implicit.
(27:51):
J implicate with two eyes.
I just haven't changed itbecause
I have no idea what I would change it to.
It's one of those thingswhere you've had it so long.
We're just like,what am I going to do with you?
And thenif I'm going to get back into streaming
nitro boomingall over the place, it's
(28:15):
a it's a lot of the place.
Well, gentlemen,I thank you for joining me.
Thanks for telling a little bitabout what you guys do.
Good luck.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
Good.
I know, I understandyou're about to finalize the team,
so hopefully you make it.
Fingers crossed. Right.
We said fingers crossed.
Well, good luck with all your travels.
Operation gold.
I'm so excited to see where you guys go.
Hopefully you guys win everything.
(28:35):
That's the plan. That's the plan.
That's the plan.
I love it and thank you guys so much.
Thank you for having us.
Thank you for listening.
We'll be back again next monthwith more members of the Auburn family.
If you like what you heard,you want to hear more.
We got a lot of more episodes.
We've done oneevery month for a few years now.
So if you want to hear some more,people want to hear coach Rob
from a few months ago,he was on here
talking to some wheelchair basketball,so we got him to listen to.
(28:57):
But until then, War Eagle!War Eagle!
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