Hondo Handy’s Podcast

Award Winning Celebrity Bodyguard and eastern shore native Adriano “Bubba” Almony joins me on Hondo Handy’s Podcast! We talked about his recent honors and Bubba’s Celebrity Basketball Game coming to Snow Hill, Maryland on Saturday August 28th, 2021. The event will raise awareness and proceeds for cancer and bullying. Tickets can be purchased at www.bubbaalmony.com

Al “Hondo” Handy, Mid-Atlantic Regional Representative for National Alliance for Youth Sports discuss the programs that NAYS offers for sports programs.

Hondo Handy’s Podcast has a conversation with Stephen Decatur High School and University of Maryland Eastern Shore Graduate Karen Holland. At Decatur, Karen was a three sport athlete, playing basketball, volleyball and softball. She also played volleyball and softball at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Karen earned her B.S. Degree in Special Education at UMES. She earned her Masters in Elementary School Counseling from Wilmington University. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education Leadership from Liberty University. In 2018, Karen was selected as Worcester County Teacher of the Year. She started her teaching career at Ocean City Elementary School and is now teaching at Cedar Chapel Special School. She coached volleyball beside Legendary Coach, Bertha Ortiz, for 5 years, at Stephen Decatur High School.

Hondo Handy’s Podcast has a conversation with Jillian Petito, an Assurance Associate with RSM US LLP, in Baltimore, Maryland. She is a proud graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and Mount St. Mary’s University, She shares her journey from playing sports and being involved in activities at the Ocean City Recreation & Parks Department, to getting the opportunity to play travel soccer and lacrosse during the summer. She discuss her high school playing day, when she was team captain for her basketball, soccer and lacrosse teams. For lacrosse, she was named the Daily Times Defensive Player of the Year, for her junior and senior seasons. She was a US Lacrosse 2015 First Team All-American and a 2014 Honorable Mention All-American. She was selected to the first team All Bayside Confererence, her junior and senior seasons. She was Second Team All Confererence, in her sophomore year. She earned the Wendy's Heisman Scholar-Athlete winner in the State of Maryland. She was named the WBOC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She was an All Conference selection in both soccer and basketball.

Jillian was a goalkeeper for the lacrosse team and during her senior year at Mount St. Mary’s University, her team won the regular season championship of the North East Conference, went undefeated in regular season conference play and finished in second place during the Playoffs. She received 1st team All North East Conference and All Tournament Team. She also received 1st in the NCAA stat categories for save percentage and goals against average. The Mount ended the season with an overall record of 16-3

Hondo Handy’s Podcast has a conversation with Keith McCray, Wells Fargo Senior Business Risk & Control Associate, within Internal Audit Regulatory Relations. Keith shares his story from playing sports, as a youngster to playing at Indian River High School. He continued his baseball career at Delaware State University, where he received his B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing. He later earned his MBA from Wilmington University. His career has taken him to more then 20 countries. He has worked in the financial services industry for over 25 years. He has held numerous senior leadership positions at JPMorgan Chase & Company, TD Bank, N.A. , American International Group and Wachovia Bank, N.A.

Hondo Handy’s Podcast has a conversation with Willis Whalen, Senior Manager of Player Affairs & Collegiate Outreach for the NFL Players Association. Willis shares his journey from Connecticut to the Miami Dolphins to the NFL players Association. He received his undergraduate degree in Physical Education, Exercise Physiology in 1990 from Southern Connecticut State University and his Masters degree in Sports Administration from Southern New Hampshire University in 2016. He is a decorated football player achieving the American Football Association All-American Team in 1990 and he inducted in the Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995. He was a team captain for the semi-pro New England Crusaders and Team USA.

Hondo Handy’s Podcast has a conversation with Beahta Davis, Director of San Bernardino County Regional Parks in California. Beahta shares her journey from Pennsylvania to Michigan to Maryland to California. She spent a lot of time in Pittsburgh and is a lifelong Steelers Fan. She attended Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Human Development and Social Policy with a concentration in Organizational Studies in 1988. She received her Masters of Science degree in Parks and Recreation Resource Management from Frostburg State University, in Frostburg, Maryland in 2010.

Hondo Handy’s Podcast has a conversation with Ian Goldberg, Founder and CEO of isport360. Ian’s journey focuses on changing the culture in Youth Sports. 100,000 coaches, players and parents depend on isport360 to set goals, foster healthy team communication and engage parents in a positive way. Ian is not only the Founder of isport360, he is a dad and a volunteer coach. He graduated from George Washington University and received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Communications. He earned his Masters in Business Administration, Entrepreneurship/Small Business from Rutgers Business School. His career started at the White House in the mid 1990s working for the Economic Advisors to two Presidents and spent most of his career running innovative digital companies in the dot.com economy.

Hondo Handy’s Podcast has a conversation with Kathleen Avitt, Executive Director of the New Jersey Recreation & Parks Association. She shares her journey from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received her BA in Recreation Administration in 1997, to an internship at Palm Beach County Recreation & Parks, in Florida. She was later hired as an Athletic Specialist for Palm Beach. Next she joined the National Alliance for Youth Sports. She became the National Program Director of the Parents Association for Youth Sports, in West Palm Beach, for 6 years, with over 150,000 members and 750 chapters. The program was piloted in February of 2000 and national networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS,and CNN covered the event that featured the mandatory parent training at the Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida for 2,500 parents. She then moved to Derby, Kansas to become the Director of Programs for Derby Recreation Commission, where she oversaw over 1300 recreation programs, before moving to New Jersey.

Hondo Handy’s Podcast has a conversation with Dr. Charles Wight, President of Salisbury University. Dr. Wight shares his journey from high school to the University of Virginia. He tells the story about earning his doctorate from California Institute of Technology (Caltech). After completing his postdoctoral he worked for the University of Colorado. He started his academic career in 1984 at the University of Utah, where he spent nearly three decades. In 2013 he became president of Weber State University. Dr. Wight is married to Victoria Rasmussen and is the father of three grown daughters.