“My goal is to break generational poverty in the downtown communities and help newcomers, BIPOC folks, have access to these opportunities through sports.”
Vincent Kuber is the type of person who knows an opportunity when he sees it. When he saw an opportunity to make the running scene in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, more inclusive and more inviting, he ran with it. When he received pushback and didn’t feel welcome in the entire scene, he pushed harder. He’s wired this way and it certainly seems like the community of Hamilton is a better place for his presence. His tenacity drives him and it was incredible to hear about his passion for the community.
“As an opportunist and also having to deal with this type of stuff all my life, I’ve learned to take that information, yeah it hurts, but it’s nothing new to me, I’m kind of numb from that now, but what I usually do is come back stronger with more force and more of what I’m doing vs bowing my head down and walking away and leaving the space to how they want it. Which is kind of private.”
Vincent has built a great community in Hamilton and he loves helping others. Steel Town Athletic Club is the club that he runs and how he reaches into his community. Not only do they have several runs each week that are inclusive and diverse, but the club also helps young people play basketball, and go hiking and he’ll soon be training track athletes. Vincent is doing everything he can to remove barriers for people so they can get out and enjoy activities. We chatted shortly after he got back from running the Minotaur Skyrace and the interview was so much fun for me. I hope you enjoy what he has to say as much as I did.
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Music by REDproductions from Pixabay.
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Ep. 51 Making change and growing community. With Vincent Kuber