How I Found My Love in Athletics
Towards the end of the 2014-15 school year and into the summer, Fetty, with Wunderle, agreed to let me serve as the Videoboard Operator, Public Address Announcer, and Scoreboard Operator for Ravenna Varsity & Junior Varsity Boys Soccer. Through the fall and winter of 2015, Clint would rope me into covering other events, doing the Videoboard at Portage Community Bank Stadium for Football and Girls Soccer Matches, operating the Scoreboard at JV and Freshman Football, occasionally Varsity Football, Middle School Volleyball, and Middle School events at PCB Stadium, and then into the winter doing Basketball for both Middle and High School and Wrestling. One of my favorite stories of public address announcing was this game, a 13-inning 2022 Regional Semifinal Softball Game between Tuslaw and Ursuline. (I am mentioned in the article)
When Clint was let go from Ravenna in the middle of the year, the most extended long-term relationships were built with the new Athletic Director and Football Coach, Jim Lunardi. Through Lunardi, he kept me involved in everything that I was already doing, plus getting me back into track and field. Especially after being let go from my full-time job, I assisted Lunardi with many things, keeping the Athletic Department going despite that abrupt mid-year transition.
The three of us were credited with creating the Ravenna ESPYs once Lunardi became Athletic Director. Wunderle created the concept, developed the awards, and coordinated the nominations and ballots. Lunardi provided administrative support and finances, and I created the media and made it the show everyone knows. The Ravenna ESPYs have run for eight years, from 2016 to 2023. The 2024 ESPYs will mark the end of that chapter for me. And watching that event grow over the last eight years, has been a big deal. (TW: My dead name is used in this article).
From 2015-16 to 2019-20, I did A LOT for Ravenna Athletics. But my physical and mental health suffered. In the winter of 2018, I had reached almost 450 pounds when Lunardi recommended that I look into Bariatric Surgery. I was not doing well.