Minneapolis, MN - Key Log Rolling (http://www.keylogrolling.com) is happy to announce that Emily Ward has joined the company as Director of National Sales and Program Development. Ms. Ward comes with a wealth of experience within the aquatics and education fields, including a 34-year career as a Hall of Fame swimming coach at the University of Buffalo; Program Director in Education Services at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); and most recently as Program Director for Aquatics and Informal Sports in Campus Recreation at Indiana University, Bloomington. Ward will be focusing on developing log rolling programs at Key Log Rolling’s core constituencies: colleges, camps and community recreational aquatics programs — with a vision to become an Olympic sport.
Abby Hoeschler, President of Key Log Rolling, is excited to have someone of Ward’s caliber join the family company she co-founded in 2011. “I first met Emily when Indiana University purchased Key Logs for their campus rec aquatics program. She was completely unfamiliar with the sport but instinctively applied her programming knowledge and aquatics experience to creatively develop a log rolling program for Indiana University. I was so impressed with Emily’s knowledge and her leadership skills, this is a great addition for Key Log Rolling and the growth of the sport,” said Hoeschler.
Ward recently moved to Kansas City with her spouse who accepted the position of Provost of the University of Missouri, Kansas City. “When Abby called to seek my advice about how to hire someone for her start-up sports company, I started thinking it might be something I would like to do. Log rolling is a thrilling aquatics sport, both recreationally and competitively, and the company’s Olympic vision is a reachable goal. I’ve seen how positively people respond to learning to log roll and how much it invigorates an aquatics program so I’m excited for this challenge, to be on the ground floor of something brand new in the recreational field,” said Ward.
Ward will be based in Kansas City, introducing the exciting sport in North America, then Europe. As an adult athlete she has participated in triathlons and running events, including more than 18 marathons, numerous Olympic-distance and half-Ironman distance triathlons, and four Ironman distance triathlons. In Spring 2005, Emily donated a kidney to her father and since that time she has gone on to run the Boston Marathon twice and participate in one Ironman Triathlon. Learning to compete in log rolling will be as easy as falling off a log!
About Key Log Rolling:
Key Log Rolling is a family-owned, Minneapolis-based company. Founded by world champion log rollers on a mission to grow the historic sport to Olympic status, they created the portable, synthetic Key Log®, to show people around the world what they have known for many years: Log rolling is a thrilling recreational and competitive sport! Through the patented Key Log® and accessories to slow and stabilize the log for beginners, Key Log Rolling has made the fun and fitness benefits of the sport accessible at any waterfront or pool. Log rolling was born in the northwoods over 125 years ago and is now being discovered as a historic sport for modern times. There are now more than 400 Key Log Rolling programs in 47 states and 7 countries.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://bit.ly/2efYDe3
Contact: Abby Hoeschler, abby@keylogrolling.com, Emily Ward, emily@keylogrolling.com