Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Kelly Walker: Hi and welcome to episode 203 of Hustle and Pro. I'm your host, Kelly Walker, and today. Our guest is Dan McCall. Dan is an army veteran. He's an active member of the Frisco VFW8273. Part of his role there is that he leads the health and wellness initiatives for veterans and their families. So we're going to talk about kind of that intersection of his life as an army veteran and sports, especially here in Frisco, Texas. So we're going to talk about a sports and veterans nonprofit, the HOPE Program, out at PGA Frisco, how he was an FC Dallas hero of the Match, involvement in the Big Star Half Marathon, and even things like how yoga and rucking come into play in his life. I do have a disclaimer for this episode. This is the first episode I was recording with my new phone and my new mic and cord adapters and it didn't go so well. Dan was a trooper, very patient with my equipment failures that kept happening over and over again. But unfortunately I lost a little bit of the episode footage because the mics just were not cooperating. It was, it was very quiet in some aspects and it was very staticky in others. So I did have to edit a little bit out. But I do want to say we recorded this episode at the Trails of Frisco Golf Club, and we recorded there because we wanted to promote the Veterans Charity Golf Classic. It's called Fairways for Freedom. F O R e is the four. So it's Fairways for Freedom and it's happening on April 16 there at the trails. So Dan took a minute to tell us about that on this episode, but because my audio mics were not cooperating, it isn't going to come through. So we will miss him talking about it. But I'm going to link to it in the show notes. So anyone interested in sponsoring or playing in that April 16 tournament, Fairways for Freedom at the Trails, check it out in the show notes. All that being said, let's jump into this episode with Dan McCall. Please bear with me with the with the light audio at the beginning, it does improve, it does get better. So let's start with learning a little bit about Dan McCall.
[00:02:17] Dan McCall: So originally from Florida, I grew up a Dolphins fan. Dan Marino was my favorite player and then went to the University of Florida, was there for a national championship and loved football. Joined the army, was active duty for eight years and moved to Dallas when we left the army in 2005. And it took a while, but we have become Cowboy fans. And so once you live here, it's. It's hard not to be.
[00:02:48] Speaker B: So you've been a part of our local professional sports, like team pre game activities. Right. And like FC Dallas and a couple of these things. So tell me, tell me what those were like.
[00:02:59] Speaker C: Yeah. So FC Dallas, such a great partner and supporter in the community. They do the hero of the match before every game, and so a lot of times they'll ask our VFW for a person, and it's a fantastic experience. You get to go on the field, be down there with the players. They really do a wonderful job of making you feel welcome. So it was a really neat experience, I think.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: Seen those for 15 years here. So when was yours? When did you do that?
[00:03:33] Speaker C: It was probably two years ago.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: So I'm. I'm sure that I cheered for you and clapped for you and heard your intro. And our friend Chris Bakambuso, who announced your name has been on this podcast twice. And so I love that it all ties together. Did you get a jersey?
[00:03:49] Speaker C: I did. Yes. Yes.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: With your last name?
[00:03:51] Speaker C: With my last name on it in the year. Okay. Yes. Very cool. Very cool.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: I think that's such a neat touch that they do. And then what about with the Rough Riders and the Texas Legends? Have you done similar activities with them?
[00:04:03] Speaker C: Yes. So we've got. Coming up in March every year, the Texas Legends has a Veteran Appreciation Night. They do a wonderful job. We've been on the court for the national anthem and color guard and then their halftime presidency.
Same thing with the Rough Riders, really. All the sports organizations here in Taos have been, you know, just really wonderful about including veterans.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: That's awesome. I think that Legends Military Appreciation Night game is their biggest, most the thing they look forward to the most every season. Just sort of being on the other side, watching their team prepare. I know that they, they love that. That game.
[00:04:47] Speaker C: You feel very vertically challenged when, when you're amongst their players because all of a sudden you realize just how tal tall they really are.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I know. I mean, I interview them a lot and there's times when we're. If we're not doing a sit down like this, you and me in a chair, if I'm just at their media day, when we're just standing, I can't get my tripod up high enough to get them in the frame and I'm like holding it and talking and it's wobbling. It's funny. I'm like, this is hilarious.
[00:05:16] Speaker C: A lot of times if you make.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: A extra tall basketball interview. Tripod for me.
[00:05:20] Speaker C: Yeah. A lot of times they'll be warming up as we're getting ready to present the colors too. And so we'll. We'll have some pretty fun interactions with them if a ball, you know, rolls over our way.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: That's great. They're great. I love. I love those players. I know that with PGA moving here a few years ago, they have a veterans program honoring our patriots everywhere. Hope. The Hope program. So you're a graduate of that as well?
[00:05:44] Speaker C: I am, yes. So actually had my lessons here at. At the Trails Golf Course. So this is my home golf course for. For that I really had decided I never would play golf again. I was so frustrated and so bad at golf. But when I Learned about the PGA's program, so we'll give it another try. And had a great, great instructor. He was an Air Force veteran. He was very patient. We had golfers at all different levels. We had some that had played quite a bit, and we had some, like me, who had played very little. And so it was six weeks of free lessons, two hour blocks. Usually it's somewhere between, you know, five to eight people. They're now doing most of their, uh, p. PGA program locally at the training center as well, which is really neat.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: Yeah. So that coaching center at PGA is amazing. What a great facility. And that sort of helps with the weather. Right. If it's hot or cold or rainy or whatever, you do have options to be in there. And those bays and all the cool technology in there. Would you like to mention the coach that helped you?
[00:06:57] Speaker C: Yeah, sure. Mark Fontana. And he's. He's well known in our veteran circles. A lot of folks have had Mark before, and he's a PGA professional and it was an amazing experience.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: Awesome. I don't know Mark yet, but I will look for him next time I'm up there.
There's a nonprofit merging vets and players.
[00:07:20] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:07:20] Speaker B: What is that?
[00:07:21] Speaker C: So merging vets and players is something that's really neat. The founder of it or co founder of it was a Army Special forces soldier who, when he had an opportunity, went to the University of Texas and walked on to their football team. Wow. And was the long snapper. And he ended up playing, if he tells the story, for 30 seconds in the NFL. But hey, you were on an NFL team.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: 30 more seconds than most people.
[00:07:57] Speaker C: Yeah. So his name's Nate Boyer. He realized, you know, after his time in Army Special Forces and then also with his time in the NFL, that the transition for veteran and transition for professional athlete were very similar. When you leave the community or you leave a locker room, you are now feeling disconnected, lost at where we're placed.
[00:08:25] Speaker B: Right. Your people.
[00:08:26] Speaker C: So his idea was, let's put something together that can bring both of those groups together and have a shared experience around a physical activity, usually some type of high intensity workout.
And so I found out about the program, got invited to go to a workout at the Cowboys practice facility and was so impressed with how the Dallas Cowboys opened up their practice facility. Head coach at the time, Mike McCarthy was there, defense coordinator Dan Quinn, several of the other players. And so they really made you feel special.
I've connected with some of the players involved and developed some friendships through it as well. So it's really a good program.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: Nonprofit. I hadn't heard of it before you mentioned it. Merging vets and players, that is. That's very cool.
And I'm glad that, that it's here in Frisco. I mean, I'm sure it's other, you know, outside of Frisco as well, but I'm glad that they get to use some Frisco facilities. That's bonus. That's great.
Okay. And I want to talk about rucking. I know rucking is special to you, right?
[00:09:37] Speaker C: You.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: You do like monthly ruck. So for those of us who don't do that, tell me what it is and then what that means when you do monthly rucking.
[00:09:46] Speaker C: Right. So rucking is actually a fitness activity that has grown in popularity over the last 10 years. And what rucking is, is simply walking with a weighted pack. And the idea behind it is you will actually increase your heart rate faster than you would if you were just walking because you're carrying something. It's very much a military practice because in, in the army or the Marine Corps, it is rucking or hiking with, you know, force marches. So it's something veterans are very familiar with, very comfortable doing. It's much lower impact than running. So it's not the problem for the, the knees and ankles and back that you have with running, but it's cooler than walking.
[00:10:36] Speaker B: So, yeah, you're like, I don't know, just the thought of the extra weight and the extra work it's taking is like, it's that challenge. It's the challenge in itself. Right. The extra pounds that you're lugging around.
[00:10:48] Speaker C: I started doing it. I have a labradoodle who's a great runner. She could do three miles. But when my daughter came back from college, I all of a sudden now had A corgi living at her house as well. And corgis are not good runners. So to get a workout, to get a heart rate, I would. I started rucking and carrying the pack, and so I really got interested in it because of that. But there's all kinds of clubs throughout the DFW area and really nationally. And so we started a ruck sport squad for our VFW and just again, encouraging our members to get out and do something that they're familiar with a lot of times. And we've. We do them a Saturday monthly, different locations around Frisco, and we have a lot of fun.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: I've never seen a group rucking that I can think of.
[00:11:43] Speaker C: So are you out early on Saturday mornings, Kelly?
[00:11:46] Speaker B: How early is early?
[00:11:47] Speaker C: It depends. So with the weather being a little bit colder, we'll start a little later. But when it's really hot in the summer, we get started kind of early to beat the heat.
[00:11:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, then maybe that's why. Yeah, I'm usually sleeping in a little bit on a Saturday morning, but I love that. And so three miles, is that. Is that a long ruck? Is that an average?
[00:12:10] Speaker C: That's. That's a good. Right in the middle spot for a lot of our members.
We do some that are really fun. Like we do a pump pumpkin ruck for Halloween and we invite family members and kiddos to come out. So we keep that one pretty short. It's only a mile. But carrying a pumpkin for a mile can actually be a core workout. Sure.
Some of our longer rucks, we've done our, you know, five miles and this spring, I did the carry the load event and we did a 20 mile ruck for that as well.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: Oh, it was 20. Wow.
[00:12:45] Speaker C: Well, in fact, you could do more at carry. Carry the load because they do it for 24 hours.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: So.
And what about running. So the Big Star half or I don't know if it's also a full. That happens in Frisco. Do you do that?
[00:12:58] Speaker C: So they do a 5k and then they have the half.
And I've done several five. Excuse me. I've done several halves, but I've never done Big Star for a half. But we have been the color guard every year the last few years for. For that. And. And then we've rucked the 5K.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: Oh, really?
[00:13:20] Speaker C: As well.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: So if that's in that three mile sweet spot.
[00:13:23] Speaker C: It is. Yeah. So.
So it. It's nice because you're not worried about your time, you're just worried about finishing. And then they have such a fun after party there and we've, we've been a, a table and a tent with the VFW afterwards as well.
[00:13:40] Speaker B: So yeah, that big star half is the, the post run party is different than others. I don't know that pavilion, they've or whatever that area, they've grown it into a fun little party scene with the pancakes and the food.
[00:13:56] Speaker C: Yeah, it's really nice. I, I've, I've run Dallas marathon a couple times and it's nice to have something close by.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. You have a veterans yoga class.
[00:14:08] Speaker C: So we've partnered with a group called Veterans Yoga Project before and yoga is awesome for veterans because it really works on some resilience training. You know, definitely a mind and body connection. So yeah, we encourage our veterans to participate and grow a practice in yoga if they're interested.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: I love that it's, it's good for your body but your mind, all that and athletes can really tap into things in yoga that bring out the best in them as a whole athlete too.
[00:14:38] Speaker C: I find it really helps with golf, you know, the flexibility, the mind and the focus element of it. I've really seen improvements in golf because I've been more intentional about my yoga practice.
[00:14:52] Speaker B: I can imagine. Okay, Dan, one last thing I want to just let you kind of talk about with your experience as an army veteran. What do you want people to know about military vets in Frisco specifically?
[00:15:06] Speaker C: Yeah. So this is one of the fastest growing areas in the country, Frisco and our surrounding area. And we see a huge growth in the military population here as well. I've spent the last 20 years working in the military transition career field. And I would just say if you're new to this area, there are so many opportunities for veterans in the sports programs with some of the organizations here.
You don't have to be alone. Right. You want to be in community. And I would just encourage you as a veteran in this area, plug in with the community that's here.
[00:15:47] Speaker B: That is a bonus of the growth, right. That there is a large number of like minded people going through shared experiences. So do you think.
I don't know if you already mentioned the number, but I have 15,000 written down.
[00:16:00] Speaker C: We think easily that, that there's 15,000 veterans in the greater Frisco area at this time.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: That's substantial. I mean that is, that's a lot. That's great. I love it. But also like you said, they, they could be struggling with that transition to be. If they just moved here or whatever. It is and so I love that there's a community for them and all of these sports related activities they can plug into.
[00:16:25] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a lot of fun in this area.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: What's your favorite thing? Like when this, you know, sports podcast but like what's your favorite sports thing?
[00:16:34] Speaker C: Oh, I, I've really committed to golf the last two years.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: Fitting that we're here. So perfect.
[00:16:42] Speaker C: And so yeah, I would say it's a sport where you can play as you get much older and you don't have to be an elite athlete to play and to do well and be good. But you can always be better than you were the day before in golf. It's a little more skill based versus your physical athletic ability.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: For sure. I love that you can always be better than the day before. Right. That's a good. Not just you didn't even have to put the word for golf at the end. That's just good in life. Right.
[00:17:21] Speaker C: I agree.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: It's. That's great. I love that perfect ending. So thank you so much for your time. I'm glad that the trails let us come sit here during, during lunch and watch all these golfers.
[00:17:31] Speaker C: It's a pretty day.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: Head out. It is. It's a great day.
[00:17:34] Speaker C: Maybe we'll go play a little bit.
[00:17:35] Speaker B: Yes. So like I said, I'll share the info for Fairways for Freedom in April. April 16 here at the Trails. Hopefully some of our audience can come out and meet you guys.
[00:17:44] Speaker C: That'd be wonderful.
[00:17:45] Speaker B: Thanks for your time, Dave.
[00:17:46] Speaker C: Thank you so much.
[00:17:47] Speaker A: Kelly, thanks for joining us for this episode of Hustle and Pro. Subscribe on YouTube and check us out on Instagram and we'll see you next episode.
