Dan Hawk to Lead Boys and Girls Club’s Sports & Teen Programs

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    Dan Hawk

    Longtime basketball coach and community sports leader Dan Hawk will join the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County as Director of Sports and Teen Programs, CEO Michael Johnson announced today.

    “I’m excited about the whole opportunity,” Hawk told Madison365 in a phone interview Monday. “I’m excited to put some things in place with the partnerships the BGC has and connecting them with some of the youth here in Dane County and giving them opportunities that they wouldn’t have otherwise. I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running and getting things going.”

    Hawk will “be the leader in our competitive and intramural sports programs on one side for all ages, but also be a leader in our teen programs specifically,” said Boys and Girls Clubs Chief Operating Officer Rod Mitchell. “For teens that encompasses all areas besides just sports. They’ll learn how to officiate, how to do stats, they’ll learn how to create uniforms and jerseys with the hot press. The teens’ role in sports is not only to play them but also they’ll be highly engaged in our career readiness program.”

    Hawk has been coaching basketball at all levels for 13 years and recently founded the Prairie Power Hour, a chance for kids 11 and up to play basketball with adult supervision two nights a week at Prairie Phoenix Academy. Hawk developed the program in partnership with Sun Prairie Community Schools.

    “The first night we had 15 kids in the gym, the next night 25, and we maxed out at 83, with no real advertising,” Hawk said. Hawk anticipates that program continuing alongside other Boys and Girls Club programming.

    Mitchell said the Boys and Girls Clubs sports and teen programs currently serve about 200 kids, but with Hawk on the job that will likely grow.

    He has a large current following in Sun Prairie,” Mitchell said. “He reaches a lot of kids out there.”

    “We definitely want to increase the membership, increase the involvement across the board,” Hawk said. “We definitely want to grow that in the next few months.”

    Hawk begins his new job next week.