It was always about cooperation and collaboration.
That’s what Li Li Leung, USA Gymnastics president and CEO, remembers about the early messaging from Pat Kelleher, USA Hockey executive director, after he was elected the chair of the National Governing Bodies Council.
“It was really a time in the world where we all had to work together, all of us,” Leung said. “One of the things working with Pat right away, and was pretty clear, was how much we as a group had to make sure we were finding the right ways to cooperate.”
That collaboration was vital due to Kelleher being elected chair and Leung as vice-chair of the NGBC in October 2020.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone tried to figure out ways to have organized sports safely return to play for both athletes and spectators. The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Winter Games had been pushed back to 2021, which was particularly notable for the NGBC.
The NGBC is made up of the chief executives for 51 National Governing Bodies and Paralympic Sports Organizations affiliated with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. The NGBC is effectively tasked with best representing all sports and helping organize close cooperation and ongoing communications across the sporting world.
Sounds easy, right?
Looking back, Kelleher can only chuckle before taking a more serious tone.
“We started this role right after the Tokyo Olympics were pushed back, we’re dealing with COVID and everything is really just in flux,” Kelleher said. “So it was an interesting time and really, really important for all of us NGBs to really collaborate more closely with the USOPC and all our counterparts and colleagues there.”
Kelleher said one of the early things he focused on was establishing a norm of open communication and dialogue among the group, while also leaning heavily on Leung as a vice-chair to make sure all voices were heard.
That’s especially important with the varying sizes of organizations represented across by the NGBC. While USA Hockey is one of the larger organizations, Kelleher noted that it was his job to make sure that smaller NGBs were also well represented.
“Ultimately each NGB has their own issues and things to work on with the USOPC,” Kelleher said. “It was important to me that we allowed all those NGBs to focus on the things that were most important to them, while the leadership of the council could focus on the big picture and partnering with the USOPC to address those larger issues that impact so many of us.”
Kelleher noted that working with the U.S. Center for SafeSport was a key point of emphasis, as was government relations and international guidance in a time where the world was working through, and then coming out of, a global pandemic.
“With different NGBs and different challenges, it’s important to have leadership that understands and takes time for everyone,” Leung said. “We all had a couple big things, which Pat was good at leading on, while also understanding challenges one sport might have more than another.”
While handling and figuring out implications from COVID greatly defined the early part of his time with the NGBC, Kelleher proudly looks at how they handled things with the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris.
“Paris was a huge success, both on the field of play for all our NGBs and athletes and the USPOC, but also off the field of play with television and sponsorship and things like that,” Kelleher said. “And then moving forward, to be part of some long-term planning for Italy in 2026 and then LA in 2028, and we’ve got just 10 years until another Winter Games in the United States with Salt Lake City. It was great to be focusing on what we’ve done, but also what we will continue to do in the future.”
One thing Kelleher pushed for during his time as chair was making sure Paralympic sports had an equal seat at the table in all conversations. For some sports, the same governing body handles both the able-bodied and Paralympic sport, while others have separate NGBs. No matter the setup, Kelleher emphasized working to expand all opportunities across all sports.
“It’s something that has really grown over the past four years and will continue to grow,” Kelleher said. “The NGBs have a huge responsibility to drive participation and growth, to ultimately drive competitive excellence. How do we get people into our sport? And how do we get everyone involved no matter who they are?”
It’s one of the things Kelleher will think about in hockey in the future, he said, as USA Hockey works to grow participation in Para ice hockey.
Kelleher has been the executive director for USA Hockey and The USA Hockey Foundation since 2017. He said his time as the NGBC chair is only going to help his long-term leadership in the hockey space.
Since becoming the NGBC chair, Kelleher noted there were multiple times where he called someone he met through the Council to hash out a challenge or two with USA Hockey.
“Like hockey and gymnastics, for example, are drastically different sports, but we can bounce ideas off each other and it’s really helpful,” Kelleher said. “You also gain some real appreciation, and really take some inspiration from some of the smaller NGBs and what those people get done, and it really pushes and inspires me to be better in my role with USA Hockey.”
While Kelleher’s role as chair ends this week, he’s looking forward to staying actively involved with the NGBC.
“It was a great journey, and we did a lot of things to work together to put people into a position to succeed,” Kelleher said. “Hockey is the ultimate team sport, and we will continue to work as a team with the other sports, and I’ll keep using those experiences to help in my current role with USA Hockey.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
