The Wray Theater hosted the first of the Fitness and Sports Talks with Matt Koart and his Pathway from Football to Law on Oct. 7.

The event was held by the Rio Hondo College Fitness Specialist program and featured Koart, a University of Southern California graduate from the Marshal School of Business and former defensive lineman for the USC football team who played from 1981 to 1986.

Involved with sports, Koart had to exercise, which quickly became a coping mechanism and helped him deal with the stresses of every day life.

Koart then landed a spot on the USC football team and was eventually drafted in the fifth round by the Green Bay Packers and played for a year before getting cut.

After getting cut, he was not unhappy but stayed positive about making it that far in his football career.

Koart remembered a quote from his former teammate, Byron Darby, and said “It ain’t what you’ve done, it’s what you’ve done lately” that inspired him to follow a different dream.

He then decided to pursue a career in law and attended USC’s Gould School of Law, where he served as a Law Review member and graduated in the Top 3% in his class.

After a couple of years with the law firm of Allen Mankins, et al., he formed a real estate development, with roles as Regional President for Pulte Homes, Inc., CEO of Shapell Industries, Inc and is now currently the owner of his own business, Koart Residential, Inc.

Even with a different path than he originally expected, he still exercises to this day and even helped his friend with his depression after his son overdosed and took him mountain biking to help get his mind off it.

The FAST events were created by Dr. Jodi Senk, an assistant professor and the director of the Lifelong Fitness Center and Fitness Specialist Certificate Program at Rio Hondo.

Senk originally created the Fitness and Sports Talks with the intention to promote the Fitness Specialist program and wrote a grant that included a speaker series.

When choosing speakers Senk wanted speakers who would relate their background of fitness or sports activities that led them a different pathway and towards a new career that may not have been related to just fitness or sports. 

She looked for people with different backgrounds with some other fitness related components to it and that is how Koart became the first FAST speaker.

While the event was open to all students, community, faculty, and staff, Senk mentioned to students who are currently athletes “how a person became a pro athlete and the amount of work that they have to put into it is invaluable” and how Koart “didn’t have to stay in sports to have a career that allowed him to essentially get better ideas of new career paths.”

The next Fitness and Sports Talk will be on Oct. 21 at 1 p.m in the Wray Theater and will feature Dr. Kimberly Shediak who deals with social media and how to promote ones self.