When he’s not busy with school, Sports Marketing & Media online student Sam Kimmel (pictured above, center) heads up the League of Leaders, a recreational sports league he formed earlier this year in his hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania. The league – currently wrapping up its trial period with about 20 athletes – will officially launch in June with more sponsors, more equipment, and more participants.
“I had a lot of friends growing up who for various reasons weren’t able to participate in sports,” says Sam, who mentions drinking and drug use as a couple of those reasons. “So I started this league and thought, maybe I can help people out too. It was sports-driven at first, but I really want to give people an alternative to getting in trouble as well as hopefully create leaders and give them an opportunity.”
Sam plans to have basketball, street hockey, soccer, and potentially football as the featured sports in the league. Athletes will draft their own teams, games will take place on the weekends, and every team will make it into the playoffs at the end of the season. The League of Leaders is open to high school and young college students, and Sam hopes in the future he can expand into other cities. He’d love for the athletes to have a chance to play somewhere like Pittsburgh’s Hines Field.
“I’ve always wanted to be engaged in the sports world in some way,” says Sam, who also just started his own online radio show. “I want to be involved in sports radio, so anyway I can get my foot in the door with that is great.”