Ron Rapatalo: (00:00:00) What's up? I'm Ron Rapatalo and this is the Ronderings Podcast. Around here, I sit down with guests for real, unpolished conversations about the lessons and values that shape them. And I'll be right there with you, sharing my own take, laughing at myself when I need to, and wondering out loud about this messy thing called life. Glad you pulled up a chair. Let's get into it.

Welcome back to Ronderings. Today's conversation is with someone whose story sits right at the intersection of purpose, play, and community. Kashif Hameed.

Kash went from playing professional basketball to shaping young lives as an educator and founder of Klinic Kids program that brings together sports community and mental wellness in powerful ways. We talk about what it means to evolve without losing who you are. How staying grounded in service can turn personal passion into purpose. Let's get into it.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:00:54) Hey friends, before we get started, I want to share something that's been a big part of my own journey. Two years ago, I published my book, Leverage. That experience cracked something open for me. I saw how publishing isn't just about pages, about owning your story, sharpening your voice, and amplifying your impact.

The part that meant the most, readers reached out to me to say they felt seen. That's when I knew this work mattered. I loved this so much I co-founded Leverage Publishing Group with friends who would make know this world inside and out. Now we help leaders, entrepreneurs, and change makers turn their ideas into books and podcasts that actually move people.

You got a star in you, and I know you do. Let's chat. Find me on LinkedIn or at leveragepublishinggroup.com. Cuz the world doesn't just need more books. It needs your book. All right, let's get to today's episode. Peace.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:01:52) Ronderings Universe. I have a new friend on the Ronderings podcast guest Shakira Pettit worked very closely at Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy with Kashif Hameed. So, I want to give a big welcome. Kashif Hameed. Kash, how you doing today?

Kashif Hameed: (00:02:07) I'm doing great, Ron. Thanks so much for having me, man. Excited to be on the show.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:02:12) Really excited to have you on after Shakira put me on to talking with you, learning more about your journey and your story. And we will get into the great work you're doing with Klinic Kids in a little bit. I knew I had to have you on as a guest because for me it’a like you're the definition of that multi-hyphenated leader who's practicing the alignment of all the things, right? Which been putting out in the world of sacred syncretism for those of you who are spiritual and religious studies majors.

So, Kash, we gonna get right into it. You ready?

Kashif Hameed: (00:02:50) Yeah, let's go.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:02:51) What's your story?

Kashif Hameed: (00:02:55) Yeah, I I I think that's a really great question because I think all of this wraps around into like a fuller story. So, I was born and raised in Skenctity, New York from upstate. Grew up with two loving parents and, you know, older brother, younger brother, like all you know, close, but didn't grow up with a lot, which I think is a crux of some of the work that I do.

So, my grandparents, we used to go see them, they were kind of migrant farmers like always working in the black dirt and stuff like in you know intensive labor like kind of stuff. So you know, super grateful for the things that like I had, but I was a happy kid.

Kashif Hameed: (00:03:36) up until like around middle school when I started to notice that some of the stuff that I didn't have some of the other kids had and started to feel what that difference felt like.

And I remember that being a really big significant part of of my life. And then around high school basketball became really serious. And when basketball became serious Then what came with that, you know, I started to sprout up, had the crazy growth spurt, went from 6'2 to 6’7.

Um, and you know, all of a sudden I'm playing basketball and I'm in France and I'm in Vegas and I'm in Florida. I'm, you know, on these high school basketball team that's doing really well, the AU team that's doing really well. And so now like this kid that didn't really have much and everything else, basketball really changed that, right? So now I'm getting free sneakers, free gear, notoriety, all these different things, right? And so that was amazing, right? And opened up all these doors. I ended up playing division one basketball and I ended up playing professionally overseas.

And so, you know, I had a Hall of Fame college basketball career that then went overseas. But then there was something that was in me that was feeling a little bit empty.

Kashif Hameed: (00:04:41) I I love the way that I could play basketball and God had definitely blessed me with a really great ability to be able to make a living doing it. But there was something else that I felt that was a calling on the inside. And I think work really truly was to come back to community. I didn't know exactly what that meant, but to come back home or come back into community and see what kind of help I can give.

And so trying to figure out, you know, what that was and, you know, what that meant, I ended up getting into the classroom, started as a sub, and then, you know, started teaching in New York City public schools. This was back in the day when they gave you five years to to, you know, get your teaching license because there were teacher shortages and everything else. house. Yeah.

Kashif Hameed: (00:05:28) And you know, when I got in there, man, that first year of teaching was probably the hardest year, like ever. I I don't care how many sprints I've ran. I don't care how many weights I've lifted like throughout my career. Like I have never been as exhausted as that first year of teaching.

And it was so much of like just pouring out into the kids. And then, you know, but what I found is that I found purpose in that moment and in that year, you know, I developed a bond with the kids that were in front of me. I didn't know my craft well. like I had to go back and really fine-tune it. But the thing that I knew is that I love the fact that I was creating impact in somebody else's life that wasn't there previously and I was responsible for helping to get them there.

And so I was bit and so then I ended up playing some more like professionally back and forth between that and education. But I got my master's degree, I got my second masters, became a school building leader and then I was a principal for seven years and

Kashif Hameed: (00:06:33) got to lead my school like to some really amazing things. My students and on those bonds, do things outside of the classroom like bringing kids to Ghana, Africa on service learning projects and you know so many different things that we were doing like to pour into our kids. And I think the whole story comes into play because

Kashif Hameed: (00:07:08) you know one of the things that started to stick out to me is that the need that our kids had for mental health services. You had kids struggling with anxiety and depression, suicidal ideations, all kinds of different things and that just got worse even after COVID. and my school social workers, psychologists, everybody was overrun and you know kids couldn't get seen and were on waitlists even when we tried to give them to therapists that were outside of the school.

And so we started to implement SEAL classes within our building for the kids like most schools but then this turned into a bigger vision of like what can we do and that's where the sports side of me, the education side of me kind of collided and Klinic Kids was formed. And so then we created a platform where we could address mental health and that we could prioritize that but we could do that through sports and this highly engaging community. So we bring former professional athletes, licensed mental health clinicians together and we deliver mental health through sports.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:08:00) Quick pause in the action here. I know a lot of us leaders, entrepreneurs, folks just trying to do good work and felt that grind of pushing a boulder uphill by ourselves. What I learned is you don't actually have to do it all alone. Genius Discovery Program at Thought Leader Path like having a think tank in your corner. It's not some cookie cutter formula, but your story, your plan of impact, giving you the clarity and assets to take the next big step.

I've seen people go through this and walk out with their voices amplified and sharpened. Some even launching podcasts like this one, Ronderings. So, if you're tired of grinding in the dark, you're ready to step into your impact with right support. Check out geniusdiscovery.org. I love the tying of all of that, right? You know, something that immediately came to mind, right, is I've gotten the privilege of knowing other incredible former athletes like you who become school leaders, right?

Ron Rapatalo: (00:09:05) The two that come to mind, right? My homeboy Kai Atterly who's a D1 track athlete at Georgetown. He was a very successful KIPP principal, right? He now, you know, he's one of his things aside from still being, you know, consulting in the world of K12 ed is representing athletes, something he does, right?

Kashif Hameed: (00:09:40) Yeah.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:09:42) And then Dr. Ian Roberts, someone that I know through my new leaders world who's done that who was also a D1 track athlete became a superintendent recently. Unfortunately was in the news for other things right but that not going to talk about that here on this podcast but that's another story for another day but you know when I think of folks who've reached the level of like sports that you've had right there's an incredible amount of discipline

Ron Rapatalo: (00:10:04) and structure that I think really successful school leaders have. So, I'm curious about what you learn from the discipline of being in sports and then moving into education and being a school principal and what what you learn from both of those worlds together.

Kashif Hameed: (00:10:20) Yeah, I think I think you make some really great points. I think there's a little bit of a variance though. I think sometimes people are extremely talented, right? Like and that talent gets them far, right? That talent can even drive them into like, you know, a certain place. And I think those particular individuals when hard work isn't coupled together with that don't learn the valuable lessons that we're talking about like in terms of what the sport can give and how to translate that into other things and so that wasn't the case with me, right?

Kashif Hameed: (00:10:53) I didn't come out and was like this superstar player and athlete and everything else. There was a work ethic that had to be in place to show steady growth over time right and there were people along my journey that poured into me and developed me and gave me the tools that I needed so that I can thrive right and so I just can imagine what would that be or what would that story have been if I didn't have anybody pour into me? What would have what people what would have people thought about like my potential and my my my ceiling, right, without those people pouring into me?

And so I'm acutely aware of the fact that, you know, this is a pay it for forward movement that because those individuals were saw fit to pour into me in that way, I was able to reach the heights that I was able to reach that potential and talent and hard work all came together to give me all kinds of opportunities which I'm super grateful for. And so a really big part of Klinic Kids is creating that same kind of feeling for the kids that we serve.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:12:00) Awesome. Well, let's dive into your Klinic Kids work a little bit more. Right. I don't believe I've ever heard I can't say I know every nonprofit that brings SEAL and mental health into schools, right? But this sounds relatively unique, right? And so from your vantage point, like what's the value about how you do this, right? Because you know, admittedly over the last teenth years, right, there's a lot of SEAL programs and yet I've not heard this bridge between bringing in sports to it, right? Because to also give a little bit of like soapbox, right? One of my my friends in my KIPPP world and Teach For America world who actually was one of the founding teachers with Kayatly and KIPP back in the day in in Brooklyn, has started talking a lot about how movement in schools

Ron Rapatalo: (00:13:02) is so needed, right? You know, there's the cutting of recess in schools, right? Many schools don't even have sports teams, right? And it does affect mental health to be clear.

Kashif Hameed: Sure.

Ron Rapatalo: Right. So, I'm curious about how you structure the program in a way that doesn't become the oversimplified like, well, playing sports bringing third, but like how do the all these things connect? How does this like bring the kind of like value that you sought to bring to schools from what you saw?

Kashif Hameed: (00:13:41) Yeah. So, I I think, I think to your point there are if sports is used as a developmental tool there are all these different benefits, right? Unfortunately we're in a place where you know there's a there's an amazing thing that's happening where athletes aren’t getting paid which they should have been paid and that's something that's long past due.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:14:15) Yeah.

Kashif Hameed: (00:14:16) But at the same time it's creating this undercurrent of competitiveness and elitism like with sports where there's no room for development or or there's you know, a closing window for development or even just kids playing recreationally, right?

Kashif Hameed: (00:14:50) And so what we do and what we're able to do is we're able to tap into the 99% of the kids who may not be playing professionally, but bring them professional level coaching and skills and mindsets that can help them translate what they're learning on the court into real life, right? And so we're super purposeful about making sure that we have all kinds of techniques in terms of positive affirmations and reframing negative thoughts. to building community, all of these things, and then an intentional time to really talk through wellness techniques and and giving them some real application, right?

And so all of these things that we're doing allow the kids to understand that, you know, their self-worth, while they may be a good basketball player, maybe they're just beginning, and this is a lesson that I had to learn, a lot of athletes had to learn later on, is that your self-worth has to live outside of that thing you can do on the court, right? That that sport and everything else. outside of performance, right? Because there is a you that is outside of that like that absolutely is worth something that absolutely

Kashif Hameed: (00:15:47) needs to be catered to that needs to be just prioritized in a way where you have to make that divide. And so we utilize sports as a way to like bring that to the forefront for kids and it's been it's been super powerful this entire time. So we're excited about where it's going.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:16:11) Wow. So tell me a little bit about the footprint of Klinic Kids today. Where what are y'all do your work? What, how does that model get done?

Kashif Hameed: Yeah. So, we started uh a lot of the guys like were former teammates of mine. I went to Iona College. Yeah, for sure.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:16:32) My Iona people! That’s smart. Yeah.

Kashif Hameed: (00:16:37) So, I mean, when we were there, we we, you know, had a really good team and the guys just stayed close over the years and,you know, I've always maintained really good relationships with them. And so, when I made the phone call that we were going to start doing these Klinic Kids events, you know, they they didn't hesitate. And and this was for free. Before we were making anything like from like any grants were coming in, any program money was coming in. Guys were coming in. They were saying, "Hey, I'm going to give you my time, my energy, and give it a,000% for no monetary like value at all. Just giving everything voluntarily."

And so that grew as we started to do that. And we launched in New Rochelle. We did this big event about like two and a half years ago. That was really cool. We had about 200 people come through the park. And that was the launch of Klinic Kids. We had this big $50,000 tournament that we were doing just to bring out attention and we had some big names that supported the event as well from athletes to entertainers.

And so all of that came out and we started the day with Klinic Kids to like kick off this concept of what we were doing. And then we did some free events around and then started to spread the word and more and more people jumped on. So now we've done work with school districts from Buffalo, Syracuse all the way into the city. New Rochelle, Newberg, like all up and down New York State. We just did an activation in Boston. We just did one this summer in Tampa.

So, we're looking like to like start to really expand and we have some really amazing things that are coming up in a couple of months. And so, you know, as more and more people are hearing about the work, it's just resonating with more and more people and you know, we're just literally taking it everywhere we can as both single day launch events or even after school and Saturday program.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:18:24) Well, you and I have to talk offline and I know they're already starting, but this is getting me jazzed with all the K12 education connections I have and just hearing about the work that you're doing and being able to bring that into more places because this sounds really necessary. So Kash, I'm going to ask my edu-nerd question, right? Because I can't help but ask the obvious question like what have the results been thus far that y'all hang your hat on?

Kashif Hameed: (00:18:57) Yeah. So first and foremost, 100% of the places that we've engaged with for after school and Saturday programming, every single one of those school building administrators or directors of CBOS have asked us to come back. We are talking about that you know our kids are showing we do baseline and endline surveys and unanimously across the board. Our kids show growth in utilizing mental health tools like in their everyday you know lives. Uh they talk about being more active.

We get reports from principals and school building leaders just about how kids have turned the corner and like come into some level of feeling like a leader in the school kids saying their positive affirmation over and over and over again even when you know there is no clinic. We just had this really great story of this young lady. She came to one Klinic Kids event and she doesn't play basketball at all and she came to a basketball clinic but she runs track and you know I got the report that at her track team she brought everybody into the huddle and they did the archant that she led um voluntarily, had everybody in the circle you know, “I'm confident I'm committed. I'm resilient let's get it,” like and just, you know, saying that over and over like uh to her team that hyped them up. So,

Kashif Hameed: (00:20:25) I think it's I don't think it's one thing to answer your question, Ron, that like we that I'm hanging my hat on. I think there are just these stories and these little pieces that just keep coming up that are saying that we're we're in the right lane at the right time and doing some really impactful work.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:20:46) Well, that's exciting. So, I can't help but ask the like what's the big dream for Klinic Kids if Klinic Kids 10 years from now and you're speaking on stage at some big event, right? Maybe it's the, you get the social impact award of the year, what do you what do you what are you saying that Klinic Kids has done 10 years ago?

Kashif Hameed: (00:21:13) Yeah, I'm I'm going to say hopefully that you know mental health and sports were in separate places when we started this journey and through the work that we have done not only have we emphasized the fact that mental health access needs to be free for all and needs to be accessible for all and is necessary. But we found a way to bridge it into the sports that we love and that we play and that we compete with at a high level so that you know our best athletes like aren't burnt out.

Our kids that are aspiring have a place to develop freely and a safe place to be. And that Klinic Kids has helped to remove that stigma of you know like any negative connotation that has to do with that. So hopefully like by the time we get there I can just talk about how we bridge that gap successfully.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:22:15) I'm curious are you finding, Kash, that this conversation of Klinic Kids bring like the intersection of mental health in sports and schools is also starting to push that conversation because let's be clear as much as you see a Kevin Love and other athletes talking about their mental health very publicly it still feels, and this is just me reading the athletic and way too many things about sports, still/ This passion of mine that's still not very popular to talk about publicly. So I'm curious if you're finding like the Klinic Kids work getting athletes involved is also starting to push upstream into the world of like college sports, pro sports.

Kashif Hameed: (00:23:00) I mean there are a lot of people like even college teams that are starting to bring on you know behavioral psychologists and psychiatrists like on to the team to travel with them, but it's still it's still separate. It's still very much separate, right? Where it's kind of like if you need that service, right? Like then you can go get it or hey, we'll take one practice away to talk about this thing, right?

So to answer your earlier question again, like if we found a way successfully to bridge the two so that you don't have to sacrifice performance or, you know, especially on the younger levels like for mental health, but it can be bridged in like

Kashif Hameed: (00:23:51) in meaningful ways that it's just a part and that the kids are growing up like this. Coaches are being showed how to do this so that this becomes the new norm that if somebody needs to step off that court or that field to take a break mentally that it's okay and there's a clinician or somebody right there like for them or that even in our competitive moments we still find a way to like build people up build people up show them resilience tools how to bounce back you know from these detrimental things that might happen on the field, off the field that before we just want them to have tunnel vision and fight through right so bringing this into the world of sports like completely is just not something that normally is a piece that uh people have done have done in the past. So, you know, hopefully we're normalizing it.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:24:49) Yeah. You know, I'm going to put this thought bubble on the podcast as my brain thinks about who can I connect Kash to> So, in the small world of small worlds, my wife's cousin is a I mean, she's been functioning like the de facto like she's a leader at a black school psychologist nonprofit.

Kashif Hameed: Oh wow. Absolutely

Ron Rapatalo: And so I'm like, wait a second, like there's so many like absolutely tieins because as we know, let's be clear, right, the majority of school psychologists that are of color are probably I don't want to say count them on my hands. I'm being like overly dramatic here, but they're so few and far between, right? Social workers of there's it's just and so I think there's a natural tie in there, right? Because there are some groups that already organize around this, but I would bet a lot of money have no idea what you're doing yet.

Kashif Hameed: (00:25:48) A thousand percent.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:25:50) because this world like I think there's still that world of like you know the folks that are in sports they in sports you've been able to connect it because you worked in schools right and then you're bringing your like sports connections and and the you know the mental health connections, right? But the mental health practitioners at larger schools

Ron Rapatalo: (00:26:15) right my guess is don't yet know what you do and that might be the insertion point because I think collaborating with them My guess is in terms of strategy like moving school leaders at some level is part of it, but I don't my gut is they're not the hook of like where the inertia is going to come from.

Kashif Hameed: (00:26:38) Yeah. Yeah. I feel like that's on and I feel like first of all I appreciate the sentiment you got and you just making this the suggestion, but I feel like that's exactly what we need, right?

Ron Rapatalo: (00:27:11) Yeah.

Kashif Hameed: The it might sound crazy, but the the former professional athletes are probably the easier of the two of those.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:27:14) I think a guess. Yeah.

Kashif Hameed: You know, like really though, right? Like it's like there's so many of us at this point that have played professionally on some level that like can come and that can give back that come from similar demographics that a lot of our kids in underserved areas come from. But in terms of those clinicians and finding those individuals that are similar, but just like on the clinical side that absolutely and then even finding some that have an affinity towards sports, right? You know, all of that. And not that that's necessary like

(00:27:54) You know, our wellness, our director of wellness is Dr. Serena Shahid, right? And she's never, I don't think Serene touched the basketball before Klinic Kids, right? But every time that we're in the gym, she's like completely apart. She's in the exercises, in the drills, like with the kids, like feeling completely comfortable. And I think that's the thing that we do is that we make everybody feel welcome. So, absolutely clinicians like that can relate to our kids and and their needs and everything else. That is the absolute necessity.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:28:36) Yeah. I want to go back to when you had left the world of sports and were trying to find your purpose. What made you decide to start substitute teaching? Was that just kind of a chance thing? Was that an opportunity put in front of you? Like how did that happen?

Kashif Hameed: (00:29:00) I think it was spiritually to be honest.

Ron Rapatalo: Okay.

Kashif Hameed: So we were around that time we were heavy into the Christian church, right? Okay.

And one of the things that were there, they were just talking about these different ministries that you know they were assigning to people and you know for whatever reason it was like a push for me to work with kids, right? and I didn't understand it at first like it just kind of I'm 6’8 right Ron like so I'm a big guy like I

Ron Rapatalo: (00:30:05) You're big dude, yeah

Kashif Hameed: (00:30:09) and finally right but the thought of like when you think about work with kids the first thing that comes in your mind is that you're working with like little kids and you know yes and you know that's not what education is once I got into it of course and I was working mainly middle school and in high school like so but in your mind that's what you think right and so there was no desire to do that there was no desire to spend that time doing that but you know

I just ended up being a part of I think it was like a conference or something and they had me in the educational ministry kind of like compartment and we were talking about it and it was kind of like man don't fight it if that's what you're supposed to do and then I just we left that I was at a diner in New York and a friend of mine out of nowhere from college up. His name was Rick Bokeh Chica and he was like, "Kash, what's up, man?" I'm like, "What's up, Rick?" And he's like, "What are you doing with yourself?" And this is, “I'm done playing, but I'm I don't know, man. Just figuring out.” He's like, "Man, my sister's a principal. You want to teach?" Like, this is crazy. Like

Ron Rapatalo: (00:31:20) And that's that's the quintessential New York City moment. You’re at a diner, someone comes up to you that you know, and then just put an opportunity right on your plate like, "Yo, I know somebody. I got a hookup."

Kashif Hameed: (00:31:36) I go I go I go over to the school. Like, she didn't even ask to look at my resume. We just had a great talk and then I was like, "Oh, this must be meant." You know, I didn't know that was I was the third teacher they were hiring and it was only December like what I was walking into. But like, you know, it worked out.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:31:54) That's also a quintessential New York City public school moment, by the way.

Kashif Hameed: (00:31:59) Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:32:03) Oh my god.

Kashif Hameed: (00:32:05) You know, but that was the journey. So, like um and that that brought me to all of this, you know, experience and that experience brought me here and I love it. There's nothing there's nothing better than going into a group of kids that have no idea who you are and then giving them an experience where they feel connected, feel impacted and creating like some really really cool and dope core memories for them. So, you know, here we go around.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:33:01) Yeah. And how did you get connected to the Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy world? How did how did that happen?

Kashif Hameed: (00:33:09) I actually had a friend that was working there.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:33:11) Okay.

Kashif Hameed: (00:33:12) And I knew that I wanted to become a school building leader, but I didn't know if I wanted to stay in the DOE or if I wanted to consider charter.

And he kind of told me why don't you just come over hire you to work at the school like and you couldn't rock out like in the ELA class get my scores like to where they need to be and then you know you can learn from the inside out and I came and you know a little nervous because of like the the change like of like losing tenure and trying that charter world but it ended up working out you know and you went from that first year of teaching to assistant principal then to actually running running the school and was a principal there for seven years.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:34:03) Wow. That's, you know, for me like there's such a throughline of like having knowing somebody, right? There's something I've talked about because I wrote a book about it, right? It's just how much your social capital connections you make are so important. So, I'm going to ask something that I've I've thought about a great deal and often asked a lot of my podcast guests about, right? Talk about this idea of a circle of champions in my book. And I'm curious, Kash, right now, who is in your circle of champions, i.e. your like personal board of adviserss that like you rock with to be able to get that advice that you know if you ask somebody else they may not be real with you.

Kashif Hameed: (00:34:56) Yeah, I think that's really important. So I have it's not a lot they're not there not a lot of people that I'm going to you know open up to that to that level to let in, but I have two or three that are friends for 30 years at this point. Right.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:35:16) That's beautiful to have that. Yep.

Kashif Hameed: (00:35:18) Yeah. And and so like not only are they going to keep me accountable but they're going to call me out on, you know, call me out on my BS. They're going to encourage me when it's it's going in the right direction and give the applause like, and we do the same thing for for each other, right? And we've had this kind of connection for for some time, you know? And there are a couple of others that might come in and out of that circle like every now and then, but there there about two or three that are like super solid that, you know, it's just continually pushing towards progress and continually pushing towards, you know, success and just making sure it's never off too much to the left, never off too much to the right, you know, keeping that keeping that balance and and keeping keeping it grounded, right? So that you know, and whatever that's there, it's kind of like, you know, there's these people that know like the entire history and the entire journey, which I think is really cool.

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Ron Rapatalo: (00:37:16) I have to ask you the basketball nerd questions, right? Because I had not asked it yet, but I'm curious. What position did you play and where did you play overseas?

Kashif Hameed: (00:37:34) Yeah. So, I was a power forward undersized like for sure. Like I played the four my first year in at Iona. My coach, my head coach Tim Walsh at the time I was 180. I was 6’7, 185, right? Like You can picture that like straight straight up straight up like no nothing right and my coach at the time who had recruited me as an assistant became the head coach Tim Welsh and he had it was like meet the gale day right and he told everybody this is Kashifi by his junior year he's going to be player of the year in the conference, right? Which was a bold statement to say when I'm the power forward at that size or whatever 17 years old right because I'm a December baby

Kashif Hameed: (00:39:02) Qhat did he see in you when he made that kind of bold proclamation?

Kashif Hameed: (00:39:07) And not only did he make the proclamation, but then my assistant coach was a two-time NBA All-Star. Jeff Rulan played in the post and was probably one of the best highschool players ever to come out of like New York like Long Island like number one player in the country at one point. So he told me, "Hey, hey big man, I was a 6’10 unathletic white dude, but when I show you this s*** on the post, nobody's gonna be able to stop, right?"

And once he made that proclamation, he was I had Tim Welsh who was believing that like in giving me that affirmation. I had Jeff who was giving me the skill set on the post and I just was a sponge, right? I was in the weight room when nobody was in the weight room. I was on the block practicing all these different things. And so I played before, but by my junior I was player of the year in the conference. I ended up going into the Hall of Fame for Iona.

Kashif Hameed (00:40:02) We had my junior had a 27-6 record. We had the longest win streak in the nation at one point and I was the captain of that squad, right? And so that all was from, you know, people pouring into me and like me and being able to get to that potential. And so I I did well at Iona. I I got into the church around that like that senior year and trying to make decisions on whether I was playing basketball if I wasn't, right? And ended up, you know, I had some I had interest from the Knicks, Miami, Phoenix, they were always at practice and stuff and then kind of like just was deciding what to do. I took that year off and that's when I first started substitute teaching and then I went overseas and I went overseas to Macedonia.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:41:27) Okay.

Kashif Hameed: (00:41:30) The money was full. and everything else. It was It was tough though, Ron. Like I think I might have been one of like two black dudes in the country.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:41:35) Yeah, I was about to Yeah. Yeah. And they have rules on how many players. And I know because I watched stuff in the Philippines, right, and they get like 3 or 4.

Kashif Hameed: (00:41:43) Yeah. So, we only were allowed two and I was the only one there. I had a couple of friends come out to try to see and it wasn't for them, you know. So, but you know, I ended up being out there for a little while. Macedonia was cool. Shout out to, you know, Zaro to all my Macedonians out there.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:42:09) Okay.

Kashif Hameed: (00:42:11) But I couldn't I couldn't stay like I I had to go home, right? Like um so I left in December. That's when again when I started trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Started teaching and then after my third year of teaching, I'm still getting MVP in Rocker Park like with playing with Fat Joe and these guys like everybody's, you know,

Ron Rapatalo: (00:43:01) that originally when you talked about like doing events with the entertainer. I was like Kash must be hanging with Fat Joe.

Kashif Hameed: (00:43:13) I mean the thing is is that when you can play like in back in the day when they would have these games at Rucker Park and stuff, all everybody was bragging rights. They're betting on the game. like everybody wants to win. So, if you can play, you're going to play on some of these teams, right? So, I played with these teams like um and you know, a lot of friends like that played college basketball, street ball, became like cool with them,

(00:44:03) but I'm winning MVP in the in the ple in the in the, you know, in Rucker and I'm playing against, you know, my guy Conrad McCrae while he's making, you know, half a million dollars overseas and I'm making 45,000 in a classroom, right?

So, you know, at some point like it was like, all right, let me just go back over again like and just, you know, so then I I went over to Switzerland. I played there. They gave me a one week a two week trial. I said, "Man, listen. I I'll go for a week. If not, I'm just going to come back in the classroom." Because they said, "You haven't played professionally in three years." The first day that I was there, they put the other American on the train to go home and like I guess, right?

Ron Rapatalo: (00:44:50) You that nice. See?

Kashif Hameed: (00:44:52) I guess it it worked out. It worked out well. So, played that year and then I went to Proa France the next year and then I I signed in Portugal that following year and I just was it wasn't the same. Like I I could play and I could play on a high level, but wasn't I wasn't feeling that same fulfillment. I had already been in the classroom and just felt that connection and that pull and like man I give me the 45,000 you take the Portugal and the beach and the house and the maid and I'll I'll go back home and you know I'm going to do this for real. And so that's when I decided I wanted to be a principal and actually get into it and you know taught, became a principal, and really loved like the kids and running that and then took all of that experience and everything to build out Klinic Kids and so this is a really special program for me.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:45:51) That purpose is a real driver, right? Because you just sit, you sat on a moment, right? Proa France, the money, all this stuff, and because of the teaching you were doing, you were drawn back. You missed it.

Kashif Hameed: (00:46:00) Yeah, for sure.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:46:01) And you can't put a value on on that kind of purpose driving you to be where you need to be. You're able to combine with Klinic Kids, sports, and your love of education, right? So, you ended up where you needed to end up. Otherwise, you never would have found Klinic Kids.

Kashif Hameed: (00:46:20) You have to you have to follow those passions, man. Those passions are more than just like just feelings. So that that is the call, right? That's that that's you get in alignment with that. Yeah, it might be some things where like, oh, “you could have been making this amount of money if you were playing ball or oh, how come you're not” like and yeah, I guess all of that is true in an extent, but like that's never time wasted. It's not energy wasted. So all of those steps that were leading up to the place that where it is now, people are trying to figure out like man, like why is this the way that it is. It's like because this has been years in the making, you know.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:47:33) Yeah. Well, I wanted to ask you, right, because obviously Klinic Kids, there's so much with mental health with with kids, right, through sports is what mental health practices have you embraced that you'd want to let the audience know about, right?

Kashif Hameed: (00:47:53) Yeah, for sure. And I'm glad you asked that because the thing is that even with our trainings that we do with the with the team, we it has to hit us first because we didn't grow up in this kind of mindset of mental health and definitely not as an athlete, right? It's kind of like you step in between these lines, leave all that stuff out there.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:48:24) Doggy dog, right?

Kashif Hameed: (00:48:27) Yeah. So, for me, like when we started this journey, one of the biggest pieces that I started out, I struggled like with any kind of meditative practices. I would always fall asleep like it it didn't really work out for me or anything like that. But I got on I got put on to Wimhof, right? And Wimhof.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:48:42) Yes. Okay.

Kashif Hameed: (00:48:44) Yeah. So, I I I started like reading like his work and it made a lot of sense to me in terms of the cold recovery like you know in my house like in everybody I know we we can't stand cold right like like like just we don't it's not something that we normally like would like volunteer do but after every game is iced right if there was any kind of injury. It's ice baths and everything else and so he started talking about the benefits of like just recovery and just all of the pieces within your vascular system that cold therapy is doing it so then I pushed myself right? Like and this is kind of like you know we were athletes right so we can push past and we can tap back in it's just do we want to right so

Kashif Hameed: (00:49:57) tap back in force myself like to like start to finish my hot shower with lukewarm and was screaming in the shower like crazy and you know couldn't take it and then getting down the cold and still like breathing like shallow and everything to the point where you know now it's been about like two years that like I've been doing like the practice like just ending the showers with like cold shower and can you know finish up the shower, go straight to cold and just stay there for like 10 to 15 minutes and just like not because it's a time thing, but because like it's really, you know, therapy, right, and regenerative and it feels like recovery and you get out of there and you just feel like you're alert and you're ready in a different kind of way. And you know, you feel you you feel at this point like I'm looking forward to it doesn't feel like I'm alert in the same way when I'm not taking those cold showers. So, I feel like it's been amazing. And then, you know, the kids used to get me sick all the time. And I'm not saying it's a cure all or trying to whatever. I'm just saying for me, you know, the the the kids are a petri dish, you know. So like,

Ron Rapatalo: (00:50:57) oh my god. Yeah. Sneezing and like ah come on.

Kashif Hameed: (00:51:00) But since it's been like since I've been on it to the level that I have, like uh like I'm not going to say I've never gotten sick, but it's just if it has, it's been like really light. It hasn't been anything serious at all as opposed to,you know, before I would be out for like, you know, days at a time, right? So, it's been it's been beneficial. So, the cold showers were the first one for me in like cold therapy. Um, and then secondly, breath work, right? And again,

Ron Rapatalo: (00:51:39) oh, shout out to breath work. My god, that's the game changer.

Kashif Hameed: (00:51:44) Yeah. I think breath is divine, you know? Like I I don't think people really understand like when you can when you can get to a place where you understand how to breathe and you can employ that in different pieces. I feel like I don't I don't know how to say it other than like it's it's the vibe. I feel like you get to a really amazing place just through breathing, just through breath work. And so, you know, all of that's helped me so that I can do meditative practices a little easier now and I can get to different places there. But outside of just I guess some of those pieces, I think there's been just an understanding prioritizing self in a different way

Kashif Hameed: (00:52:43) to make sure that that's a part of like all of this work. While you're giving, you know, a lot of times you're in education, everything you're giving to everybody else. but not really taking that time to like pour into you. So, finding what that means, right? Whether that's playing music, listening to music, whether that's, you know, just spending some time like uh with my daughter and we're coloring together, you know, like whatever that thing is that's going to feed me in that moment, like just trying to make sure that I'm prioritizing that stuff and, you know,

So it's a journey, man. Like, I feel like it's a it's a lot, but with the things that we implement within Klinic Kids, like we absolutely try to employ and it's got to hit me first, right? So, um I'm on that. I'm on that journey.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:53:50) Well, thanks for sharing your journey with that. When you mentioned the cold showers and the cold therapy, I've dabbled in that and I think I've haven't done it as much of late, but when I was playing around with it, I was able to take straight cold showers in the winter, which you know, around our neck of the woods, a cold shower in winter is

Kashif Hameed: (00:54:30) Freezing. It's freezing.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:54:40) And it just that alertness I would come out like on fire mental. I was just like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was like having a Starbucks coffee. Yeah.

Kashif Hameed: (00:54:57) Once you once you get used to it like and you can get through that like you come out and it you really feel renewed like when you get out of that shower. For sure. For sure.

Ron Rapatalo: (00:55:00) And then the breath work. There's a book I'm forgetting the last name of the author. You probably are familiar with it. It's a book called Breath and the guy the author's James something and it talked about all the of course Wimhof was mentioned in the book right because you can't not talk about Wimhof. You're not talking about breath work. But then it's like box breathing, 478 breathing. Like there's certain things that like

Ron Rapatalo: (00:56:01) I then have learned as I've been in my own therapeutic journey, right? I've had, you know, social workers, therapists like, "Are you doing a breathing?" I'm like, "Yep, brother." Like, "Oh, good. Oh, you're much ahead." I'm like, "Yeah, because I learned to dive into this stuff through a decades long yoga practice that's been more off and on recently, but like breath aligned with movement and then with athletics, like if you're running and you don't get breath aligned with your movement. It's like 95% of it. And I parked. I tell people all the time, I'm like, "Yo, your breath is like probably 70% of that lift. You got to get it right." And people go, "What's this crazy guy mean?"

And I show it to them, they go, "Oh, right." And it's practice, too, right? You It's not It's not something that just comes really easily. There's someone I was supporting bench pressing, this older guy at the gym And I was like, "Your breath seems to be out of sync with your bench press. Let me help you with that."

Ron Rapatalo: (00:57:33) And you know what it helped? Like by the third set where I was spotting him, he was slowing down. I'm like, "That's what it does."

You ain't got to rush because you have cadence. Just follow your breath, man. He's like, "No one explained it to me like that before." I'm like, because most people don't, it's fascinating to me, right? When you get understand your breath, a lot of other stuff starts to fall into place. And it's not just movement, but it's your mind. It's just It's pretty amazing and it sets your mood.

Kashif Hameed: (00:58:12) I don't think that people really understand like how what to what level like breath work is important and what it can unlock. Like I just feel like, you know, I consider myself a super novice still like in in the area. But like I feel like in the time frame that I've applied it to my life and get to those places, I even feel like clarity comes like in a different place.

And so like it just centers you like so that you know you just I don't the best way I can say it is align. And I feel like that's exactly what like Klinic Kids is. That's exactly what this movement is. And I feel like helping kids as young as seven years old

Kashif Hameed: (00:59:10) get to this place of alignment like in some of the areas that are the most underserved, you know, it just from and from the delivery coming from people who understand because they dealt with similar things and similar demographic and you know, you get to see that representation right in front of your face of the fact that it's possible. It just it just it just screams oh, you know, it screams like impact and you know, the kids just the parents, the school districts, even the the people who are delivering the message, the guys are talking to me, the the trainers are talking to me about the fact that like this is changing their lives in in some really significant ways. It's powerful.

Ron Rapatalo: (01:00:11) That's beautiful. Well, Kash, we're at the time of the Ronderings podcast. I got to ask you what your Rondering is. What's the lesson or value you want to share with the audience?

Kashif Hameed: (01:00:24) I think the lesson is with that, and I think this is more so a personal lesson when you're in pursuit of purpose.

Ron Rapatalo: (01:00:41) Yeah

Kashif Hameed ((01:00:42): nothing's wasted. I think that's the I think that's the piece that I would say more so than anything else. I think there are times that you can get frustrated. I think there are times that you can feel low. I think there are parts of the journey that you'd rather skip. But nothing is wasted. Every single part of the journey on your way to purpose, on the way to that thing that you're pushing for or towards. All of your story is a part of it, you know. Ah, beautiful. Perfect timing.

Ron Rapatalo: (01:01:47) So, Kash, my last question for you is, how do people found you? What do you want to promote?

Kashif Hameed: (01:01:52) Yeah, absolutely. For anybody who's interested in just hearing about the work, you can go and find us at klinikkids.com. You can find us at any social media handle at Klinic Kids, and that's Klinic with a K. And you know, we just hope that if this mission, if this work resonates with you, if you're a school building leader, if you're a district, if you're a parent, you know, just reach out and connect us with whoever you want us to talk to so that we can come and bring this to your area. If you're a person who's a former athlete trying to figure out what's next and you know, looking for that purpose or you're a clinician that wants to get out of the box of regular clinical work and is okay with, you know, doing something outside the box to reach kids, then we absolutely would love for you guys to volunteer and reach out on how you can become a part of, you know, the team. And then lastly, if anybody who can't do either one of those things, but the mission resonates with you, you know, we always give free programming to our kids. We never charge them ever. It's always either through the school or grants or partners or people like you all who like um your podcast might reach to be able to give so that we can continue to do the work. So just any a lot of different and support. But anyway that you decide to, super grateful.

Ron Rapatalo: (01:03:34) Kash, I already see that Klinic Kids is doing amazing work. I could just see it continue to thrive in so many other communities. So personally invested in any way that I can help you. I want to bring it to Jersey City somehow. Trying to like figure out what that looks like because there's a lot going on here and Jersey City is a rich basketball. I mean St. Anthony’s there's, you know Jersey City talent that's come out of basketball here. This needs to be coming to JC. How do we feel? I'm sure you're probably like one degree removed from Bob Hurley. You know what I'm saying?

Kashif Hameed: (01:04:23) Yeah. Like I feel like the Hurlies are legendary, man. Like like everybody, you know, from their dad to their legacy, like they're amazing family. Yep. Yeah. For sure. Like all you got to do is let us know, Ron. Like uh we we'll come to Jersey. We'll like, you know, bring it everywhere.

Ron Rapatalo: (01:04:47) I'd love that. Well, I want to quote one of my favorite athletes in the way that I end the Ronderings podcast. So, in the words of Dion Sanders, we always come in hot here on Ronderings. And obviously, Kash came in with incredible wisdom and vulnerability about how he has come to where he's at in Klinic Kids and in his life and his career. So, Kash, it was a gift having you on today,

Kashif Hameed: (01:05:22) Ron, thanks so much, man. Appreciate you.

Ron Rapatalo: (01:05:25) Peace out, y'all.

Ron Rapatalo: (01:05:28) Big thanks to Kashif Hameed for joining me on Ronderings. His journey is such a reminder that purpose doesn't show up in a straight line. Sometimes it moves through different courts, classrooms, and communities before it fully takes shape. If you want to learn more about Klinic Kids to support their work, head over to klinikkids.com and that's Klinic spelled with a K. And if this conversation resonated, share with someone who's figuring out their next chapter, too. Until next time, keep showing up, keep reflecting, and keep wandering. Peace.

Ron Rapatalo: (01:06:17) Before we close out, I'm going to shout out the crew behind the scenes, podcasts that matter. Their belief is simple. Every great idea deserves a voice. I'm here to co-sign that. You've been sitting on a podcast idea wondering if now's the time. I'll tell you it is. Head to podcastmatter.org. See how they can help you bring your idea to life. All right, y'all. Thanks for listening. I'll catch you on the next one. Peace.

Ron Rapatalo: (01:06:55) Thank you for listening to today's Rondering. I enjoyed hanging out with me and my guest. And I hope you leave with something worth chewing on. If it made you smile, think, or even roll your eyes in a good way, pass it along to someone else. I'm Ron Rapatalo, and until next time, keep rondering, keep laughing, and keep becoming.