“One of our busboys played with the junior Hotwheels and invited me to come to a tournament in Dallas,” Ham says. “I watched a game and was hooked. A couple of weeks later I watched the team practice and talked with the former coach about volunteering. I was her assistant for two years and then took over as coach when she left.”
A native Texan from Hutto, Ham played football, basketball, track, tennis and golf in high school. After graduation in 2007, he moved to Houston to attend Houston Baptist University, where he was a member of the track team during his freshman year.
Ham and his wife, Theresa, have a one-year-old son, Matthias, and another child on the way. “We already know that Matthias will play sports,” he says. “We don’t know what yet, but he’ll definitely play.”
A former English major, Ham will finish his degree in organizational leadership at Texas A&M University- Commerce in 2017. What motivates him to serve as volunteer coach for the junior Hotwheels?
“The Hotwheels themselves,” he says. “These kids are incredible. They’re great young athletes. It’s fun to watch them grow and develop and see the positive impact the sport has on their lives. It’s an incredible thing to be part of.”