My biological father left us when I was just an infant. My mother & grandmother worked to be able to put food on the table for me and my sister. While they worked, we were either left at a neighbor’s house, or our grandmother would take us to work and let us find ways to entertain ourselves outside until she was finished.
One day, my sister and I decided to go swimming in a hotel’s pool. Unfortunately, there was no lifeguard at the pool, and as I watched helplessly, my sister drowned. My mother then left me to my grandmother’s care while she went to find a better life for us in the US or Canada.
That better life didn’t come until 5 years later when I was 11 when she was able to legally move me to the United States in San Diego CA.
I was in a new environment, I didn’t speak English, and I was weak and shy without self-confidence.
Because of this, I had a hard time assimilating and finding friends.
I fought the kids who made fun of my terrible accent and defended others who couldn't defend themselves against bullies .
Having no siblings, I was sad, hopeless and lonely at home.
I grew angrier at the world. I hung around the wrong group of friends which led to me being in dangerous situations: in one fight, I was stabbed 4 times.
But then I discovered sports. My life slowly got better when I decided to use my newspaper route money to buy a basketball so that I could learn to play the game. I played every day, renting and religiously watching Dr. J’s basketball instructional video on VHS until I started to become better than the kids in the park.
As I continued to excel in sports, everything changed: I made friendships, I began to develop strength, my self-confidence began to grow, and eventually I was even noticed by the prettiest and most popular girls in school.
In 2009, I met my wife Jennifer, a Pennsylvania licensed attorney, in NYC where I was a proprietor in the restaurant and food distribution industry. We have been inseparable since.
In 2011, we were blessed with our son Jackson Maxwell Speir, an energetic toddler whose early curiosity about sports sparked my initial interest in my return to coaching. After moving to The Woodlands TX in 2012 for my wife’s new position in the banking industry, I sold my New York business and started my new venture in the youth’s sports and fitness field to be a part of my son’s growth.
Sports was the catalyst
Sports became a very important part of my life. They led me to where I am now and shaped who I’ve become. Sports became my “father figure” by teaching me life lessons necessary for a boy to become a man.
That’s my story in a nutshell.
This is why sports matter
Sports teach the youth essential life skills, build character and leadership qualities necessary to overcome life’s challenges that lead to successful adult lives. However, playing sports alone is not enough for a guaranteed positive outcome. Just as good, caring and passionate teachers with proper resources are the cornerstone of an excellent, enriching education that students receive, the same can be said in sports.
It’s true that wisdom comes with age, and what I now know through life experiences and education is that regardless of socioeconomic status, everyone faces failures, disappointments and other adversities. One of the key differences between overcoming and succumbing to the life’s challenges, is what was instilled and fostered in early childhood.
Thus,
RTE Sports was born.
Sincerely
Coach Randall Speir
My Curriculum Vitae
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