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Top-notch amateurs seek
return to glory
New league hopes to unite former jocks
By MARY CHALLENDER
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
July 7, 2005
What's an aging but still hungry former
college athlete to do? Forced by graduation
into the terrifyingly friendly world of
rec leagues and nonmatching uniforms, he
or she is reduced to playing just for enjoyment.
No one even keeps stats.
 Well,
if you're Sean Kattner, you create your
own league.
The 25-year-old Altoona resident is co-founder
of a new company called Keep Playing Sports.
He and fellow San Diego State alum Tammy
Adams came up with the idea of a professionally
run league for amateur athletes when they
became frustrated by the recreational sports
opportunities.
Although neither was a star at San Diego
State - Kattner was on the basketball team's
practice squad and Adams played volleyball
- they were good enough to feel their competitive
edge being blunted by the sports leagues
they signed up for after college.
They were bothered by the disorganization,
the uneven level of competition, the lack
of individual recognition and the fact that
seasons tended to just fade out rather than
end in dramatic championships. How could
a person be expected to properly relive
the glory days when even their own teammates
were unaware they were leading the league,
say, in scoring average or assists?
Kattner, who has a day job in marketing
for Maytag, said he and Adams threw in pretty
much everything they missed about the college
game when they created the model for Keep
Playing Sports.
He promises top-notch gyms and facilities,
high-quality jerseys, a Web site with sortable
stats, cash bonuses for top performers (OK,
officially that's not part of the college
game), regional rivalries and a national
championship.
If the company's leagues attract enough
good players, Kattner thinks Keep Playing
Sports might even be able to boast the regular
attentions of a scout or two.
Kattner and Adams plan to launch their enterprise
in September with a 64-team, eight-region
elite men's basketball league that will
offer play in selected cities across the
country.
San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento, Seattle,
Dallas, Atlanta and Denver are on the list,
as well as Des Moines.
The season will be capped by a tournament
between divisional champions to be held
in Las Vegas in mid-December.
Eventually, Kattner says, Keep Playing
Sports will offer a variety of sports
leagues for both men and women.
He's confident filling the 64 teams won't
be a problem. Some 99 percent of NCAA athletes
don't go on to play professional sports,
Kattner said.
"That's a huge market," he said.
"Those people who are good enough to
play at that level in college obviously
have been playing pretty much their whole
lives and after they get out of college,
it's like, what do they do next? I think
there's still a drive in them to play competitive
sports."
The goal is to attract top-caliber athletes
to Keep Playing Sports but Kattner said
he doesn't plan to hold tryouts. Nor will
there be any age cutoff.
"If they think they've got it, who
are we to stand in their way?" he said.
He's counting on two things to keep marginal
players from signing up and watering down
the league.
The first is the company's league managers
in each city who have a strong incentive
to find great athletes - they earn a large
bonus if one of their teams wins the end-of-season
tournament.
The second is the ego of the players.
Kattner can't imagine the type of
competitors he's targeting will be willing
to pay to
step out on the court and be humiliated
on a regular basis.
There is one guy Kattner would really like
to see on the court this fall
but doubts he'll get a chance to - himself.
"If I wasn't starting this league,
I'd probably sign up for it immediately,"
he said.
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