Meet Nate Ford

There are those in life who do good and make damn sure everybody knows about it. There are also those who positively contribute to the fabric of our society but purposely reside in the shadows. The latter aren't making their contributions for any sort of personal aggrandizement but rather key off the advancement of others -- something fairly remarkable in this day and age.

Introducing Nate Ford, who resides in category two.

A native of San Francisco, he played basketball at Washington High as a three-year varsity player for Coach Tom Swartz. After a year at San Francisco State, Ford ventured full time into the work world.

That was in 1990 and as the Athletic Director of the San Francisco Boys & Girls Club Ernest Ingold Clubhouse in the Western Addition. He oversaw all the athletics including baseball, flag football, soccer, volleyball, track & field and most definitely basketball.

"It kind of fell into my lap," Ford recalled. "Charles 'Les' Anderson took a chance on a 17-year-old kid to run an athletic department."

Two of his proudest achievements are establishing the Pee Wee Basketball Program and the San Francisco Rebels Basketball Program.

The Pee Wee program for six to 10-year-olds began with four 4 coed teams that played each other on Saturdays. Currently, it's 30 teams in four different divisions with participants ages ranging from six to 13-years-old. Plus, an educational component has been added in which participants receive tutoring and must maintain a 2.0 grade point average.



As a traveling basketball program, the Rebels began with one team. Currently, there are teams for boys ages nine-and-under through varsity and girls sixth and seventh grades plus varsity. Again, a 2.5 grade point average is required to be sustained.

Also, financial assistance is also provided to kids wanting to get into private high schools around San Francisco. To date, over 200 kids have been served and  access to tutoring and courses on SAT and ACT preparation is also available.

"We strive to make it as cheap as possible to become an Boys and Girls Club member," Ford said. "We've never turned away a kid who can't pay. Our thinking is they pay us back by getting good grades and adding to the community."

Additionally, the Rebels has enjoyed having over 60 kids go on and play basketball on the college level, plus two in the National Football League and one in the WNBA.

However, he is quick to note that "none of this would be without the work of volunteers. There are so many. We also have players come back and volunteer to coach and help with clinics."

In 2008, Ford was named the Citywide Sports Director overseeing the entire Athletic Program for all nine San Francisco Boys and Girls Clubhouses.



"At the end of the day, this shapes their lives and helps get them prepared. It was done for me when I was a kid and it's a joy to my heart to keep it going. It bridged a gap between kids from the Fillmore and Sunnydale and Hunter's Point because they can say 'I played ball with that guy -- he's not a bad guy.' It brings the community together. It's so much more than basketball -- this is definitely a safe haven for kids, with the tutoring, the swim lessons, the arts and crafts and lessons on leadership."

Amen.