Coach Matt's Half-Bannerthon

This year I'll be committing to running the Baltimore Half Marathon in order to support The Tender Bridge and their all star group of ice hockey players on the Baltimore Banners. As their coach, it has been amazing to see their improvement both on (and much more importantly) off of the ice over the last few years. I'm always inspired by their hard work, dedication, and passion to get better every day. It's time to practice what I preach and commit to a difficult goal.

In our work with Tender Bridge we use hockey along with other activities as a vehicle to build lasting relationships with marginalized youth in high violence areas of Baltimore. These relationships help our youth access meaningful opportunities and support on their road to successful adulthood as they define it themselves. We strive to:

The hard truth is that these activities and these opportunities don't come along for free. As we've grown, the amount of activities we have been able to offer has increased dramatically. The cost of delivering those activities has grown exponentially in comparison however. In this year alone, we have the opportunity to send one of our Banners to Boys Latin to get a life changing education. We also have one of our longer tenured members ready to attend college on a partial football scholarship. We're also aiming to facilitate assistance on purchasing vehicles, funding driving school, providing financial assistance for trade school, and always....more ice time.

This is so much less about me running and so much more about my Banners family. I can't wait to run past our home rink at Mile 3, but I could do without the incline up 33rd St. Please consider supporting this great group of kids and young adults. As cliche as it will sound, their drive to succeed has rubbed off on me and I can't wait to take this tour of this great City on their behalf.