Bob Flynn
VCU’s Center for Sport Leadership teaches the power of sports
A version of this article was previously published on VCU Center for Sport Leadership website November 2013. It has since been updated.
I truly learned the empowerment of sports while sitting in a hospital room on the seventh floor of Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. If that seems like an odd place for it all to sink in, I was just as surprised as anyone.
I have been involved in sports all my life so I am a big believer in their benefits, and not just the health-related ones. I know firsthand they teach us so much more. And almost all of my jobs have revolved around sports. When I decided nearly 20 years ago to return to school for a master’s degree, it had to be in a sports-related field. That led me to VCU’s Center for Sport Leadership. My three years in the program was the best learning experience of my life. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. I waited until I was 45.
Among the things we learned in Dr. Carrie LeCrom’s Sport and Society class was how sports
can benefit and empower a society.
But in June 2012, as I sat with my son in the critical care section of VCU’s Medical Center, I was feeling less than empowered. A little more than a year earlier, as I was finishing my master’s at VCU and my son was in his sophomore year of college, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease related to Crohn’s disease. (He has since been diagnosed with Crohn’s.) Sitting in his hospital room as he recovered from his first surgery, I felt helpless. There was little I could do other than offer moral support, be there for him and take care of the financial aspects of having a chronic disease. I’m not a doctor and couldn’t do anything to help ease his pain or make him
better. As a parent, there is no worse feeling.
Naturally, I turned to sports.
In 2005, I started participating in an annual bike ride to raise money for multiple sclerosis. Since I was sure the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation must have fundraisers, I scoured the Internet to see if there were any bike rides I could do. I came across Get Your Guts in Gear Inc., which was holding two rides in 2013, one in New York and one in Wisconsin. I chose New York.
There was one problem. I had to raise $1,250. For my MS bike rides, the most I had raised was about $500. I am not a salesman and don’t like soliciting people for money. I decided to do it anyway. With the support of great family and friends, I raised $1,310. (Two more lessons reinforced through sports: You can do more than you thought possible when forced. And, as Dr. Tomasini taught us in my first CSL class, in order to grow and learn, you have to go beyond your comfort zone, which for me was turning into a salesman to raise money.)
My wife and I spent three days in the Hudson Valley area of New York and came away empowered. We met a great group of people who were going through the same things as our family. We realized that just by talking about Crohn’s and colitis with potential donors, we were raising awareness of the diseases. We realized how important teamwork is, from the volunteers and organizers putting everything together to the cyclists helping one another ride 150 miles in two days through very mountainous terrain.
We might not have found a cure for Crohn’s and colitis that weekend, and there still is little I can do – medically speaking – in regard to what my son is going through. But I learned I can help in other ways.
Through sports, specifically bike rides, I can raise money to help fight the disease or help find a cure. I can raise awareness of Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. Some studies show more than 1 million Americans are afflicted with these diseases, which aren’t talked about much because of their nature. (It’s a bathroom issue. Look it up if you don’t know much about Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.) I can offer moral support to my son and other people and their families in similar situations. I can let them know they are not alone.
All this just by riding a bike. (I’m doing another ride July 25, 2026, in New Jersey to raise money for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Go to https://teamchallenge.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/participants/Bob-Flynn to donate.)
This goes on with the running community, the triathlon community, the golfing community, and many more to help with numerous diseases and causes.
That is empowering.