ORLANDO MAGIC general manager and senior vice president Pat Williams will be the keynote speaker at the 2010 Ocoee Region Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet, April 16 at Cleveland First Baptist Church.
“Every year, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has hosted a spring banquet. It is primarily a fundraising opportunity for us. We show the local business in our area the way we are connecting with athletes and coaches in the school systems,” said Region Director Robert Green.
The Ocoee Region FCA covers a four-county area which includes Bradley, Polk, McMinn and Meigs counties.
“It is a time for us to also honor area athletes. These are high school seniors who have been selected by their Huddle Leaders of the FCA on their local campuses. These are outstanding athletes with impeccable character. They kind of raise the bar, not only as athletes but as model students on their respective campuses,” said Green.
The athletes are eligible for a scholarship named in honor of Chris Leggett, who grew up in the area and was called to missionary work. Leggett was murdered in June 2009 while in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
A memorial scholarship is awarded each year by the FCA to the winner. There are currently seven students from Polk County, McMinn County, McMinn Central, Meigs County, Bradley Central, Walker Valley and Cleveland high schools.
“On his and his family’s behalf, we started a memorial scholarship. The FCA Athlete of the Year for the Ocoee Region will receive the scholarship to the school of their choice,” Green stated.
This year, the Ocoee Region FCA banquet will feature Pat Williams, senior vice president of the Orlando Magic, as its guest speaker. Williams is also the author of 55 books and has addressed executives with Fortune 500 companies, national associations and universities and nonprofit organizations.
Since 1968 Williams has been involved in the National Basketball League as general manager for the Chicago Bulls, the Atlanta Hawks and the 1983 World Champion Philadelphia 76ers. He is currently with Orlando and actually co-founded the Magic in 1995.
Twenty-three of Williams’ teams have made the playoffs and five have gone on to the NBA finals. In 1996, he was named as one of the 50 most influential people in NBA history by Beckett’s, a national publication.
Williams and his wife, Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four nations, ranging in age from 24 to 37. He also teaches Sunday school at First Baptist of Orlando and hosts three weekly radio shows. In the last 13 years, he has completed 54 marathons — including the Boston marathon 12 times — and has climbed Mount Rainier in Washington state.
