In 2009, through a chance mentorship of a young man whose passion is basketball, Ted Sottong was introduced to the world of pickup basketball.  He quickly realized that there was something special about this activity.  Supporting the sport and its players seemed natural and urgent.  In the end, this became a calling in his life: to serve the young men and women who play pickup basketball.

Ted’s successful career reflected a passion for architecture, but later in his career he discovered another passion that led him to sell his firm and devote more time to serving the young men in his area who found their homes on the basketball courts and football fields where they informally congregated to play.

Ted’s new passion is connecting young men who tend to lack things like opportunity and guidance with people who can provide those opportunities and guidance, and watching as they turn those opportunities into a life they could never have imagined.  Having come from a good family with a solid father, Ted believes everyone deserves the advantages one is afforded when able to turn to someone like a father when they need that support in their lives.  Ted has dedicated his life to serving young men in this way so that they can have the lives that they deserve.

Ted believes in and respects the people and the community he serves, and seeks to fight social and economic inequity by initiating change both internal and external to the community. Ultimately, he hopes to inspire them to take over Pickup the Ball and adopt it as their own.