Professional: Keith Kenney, Wellness and Recreation
First published in the March/April 2013 edition of The Bullhorn. The original publication can be found here.
Sitting down with Keith Kenney in his Elting Gym office, the Director of Wellness and Recreation shared his passion for a healthy lifestyle, stemming from his history at SUNY New Paltz and with sports, most notably basketball.
Keith started his athletic career with soccer. From an early age, he competed with strong travel teams, reaching the state finals in many of those years, and at thirteen he made the All-USA East Coast select team. However, he bonded with his father over basketball, watching the Boston Celtics. When one of the soccer team parents asked the kids to play in a basketball CYO team in sixth grade, Keith fell in love with the court. He continued to play soccer until his sophomore year in high school, shocking the close friends on the travel team when he quit and then devoted himself fully to basketball.
Although he maintained a great academic record, graduating with honors, and could have had a choice of many good colleges with strong academics, he chose to attend Cobleskill to sharpen his basketball skills for two years before re-recruitment. “It didn’t challenge me academically, it was very easy, but I wanted to get re-recruited and take another shot at a high level program.” When he left Cobleskill, his team set the single season record for team wins at Cobleskill, missing the national tournament by 3 points. Keith received All-America recognition and remains a member of the Cobleskill Athletic Hall of Fame.
He initially disregarded new recruitment offers and went to the University of Central Florida. Although he originally intended to be a math or physical education teacher, while coaching students he realized he did not want to teach and instead pursued business. Still, he never “found a college with the right fit between academics and basketball,” and even after deliberately abandoning the sport, “I let the basketball lead me to the colleges and not academics.”
As a Middletown native, he took trips to New Paltz and knew the area well before deciding to attend the school. With two of his good friends already attending, one of whom had who played basketball with him at Cobleskill, he transferred in his junior year and graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in business management in 1999. During his two years on the basketball team, he proved himself as “one of the most talented men’s basketball players to ever suit up for the Hawks,” according to the Athletics and Wellness website. As a two-time First-Team All-State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) selection, and a part of the last winning men’s basketball team at our school, Keith received the Floyd Patterson Award for the 1998-99 academic year. “I just had to play every day. It was amazing: some of the best moments of my life!”
After graduating from SUNY New Paltz, Keith found employment at Infineon Technologies, a German computer company. There were arrangements to move to Denmark for a professional basketball team he had lined up; he considered the sport his career, and he planned to play for ten-to-fifteen years and figure out his goals afterwards. When the team fell through at the last minute, he stayed with the company for a few more years, installing computers across the country and frequently traveling to Infineon’s Munich headquarters. At times, he contemplated working in the business for the rest of his life, but then he realized, “after three or four years, I didn’t actually like what I was doing as much as I liked the people.” When he heard about the opening for a strength and conditioning coach at SUNY New Paltz, he left the lucrative career path and returned to the school in 2004. While many of his co-workers questioned his decision, he knew his heart would be into the job. “It was a natural fit, a dream come true. I didn’t know those kinds of jobs even existed. And you get paid for that?”
Shortly thereafter, the previous Wellness & Recreation Director retired and Keith Kenney took on the developing role in 2005. With more space for non-sports activities in the new Athletic and Wellness Center, Keith developed and ran the recreational programs and services, including group exercise classes, outdoor trips, intramurals, personal training sessions, health-assessments and wellness workshops. As the wellness activities grew, the school allocated increasing funds for more employees, including a fitness director, an Intramural director and a student work program to match the increasing demands. Today, Keith Kenney works behind the scenes, putting his business degree to good use with organizing and managing the large range of programs, yet his love for the position never wavered. “All the reasons I made the decision to come here are the reasons I still love it here and working with students.”
Currently, sports take a backseat to fitness, health and wellness. Although still a basketball junkie, following the professional games, “winning and losing doesn’t mean as much to me anymore. It’s more about the big picture, being healthy, and how much that can affect a person’s life.” While playing basketball, he noticed how training with weights, sprint work-outs, and plyometrics kept him in shape for the game; but now Keith is more driven to help the “average person,” rather than the athlete.
In that vein, Keith seizes opportunities to challenge himself physically, including playing on a minor league pro basketball team in 2007 and participating in the New York City Marathon in 2009. One of the largest marathons in the world, the 26-mile route spans the five NYC boroughs and attracts over forty thousand runners each year since 1970. “Nothing could top that. It’s such an amazing experience to run through New York City.” While the training was hard, Keith finds these physical challenges “make you feel alive.”
With a wellness aficionado in front of me, I could not pass up the opportunity on health advice. When asked about the largest unhealthy habit or behavior in an American daily lifestyle, Keith automatically responded with nutrition. “I think most people know that, but it’s heavily underrated. I always joke that people will spend days researching the newest gadget, but nutrition or how to work out are snap decisions. Educating themselves on what they put in their body is the biggest problem.”
Of course, simply discussing nutrition ignores many factors of overall lifestyle that wreck a healthy body. From exercise to sleep, to stress, every little detail of a daily routine contributes to overall wellness. Unhealthy living affects productivity, from the workplace to social life. Keith advises people to “keep it simple. With me, as an IT worker, I was in my worst physical condition, with sometimes two-to-three hours of sleep and frequently eating out at restaurants or fast food.”
Outside of wellness, Keith Kenney stays involved on campus through committee work. While the Workplace with Heart Committee dovetails with his duties as Wellness and Recreation Director, his current activity with the Judicial Board follows his interests in the broader campus community. Keith enjoys collaborating with different Student Affairs departments and helping students outside of the classroom. He knows, as a SUNY New Paltz graduate, that these activities are “all the things you remember when you graduate, besides your academics, of course.”
Outside of New Paltz, Keith adores spending time playing instruments and taking walks with his son, who “opened up a whole new world,” both in parenting and music. “We think he’s this little prodigy.” Along with strong support from his parents and his grandparents, who are musicians, the three-year-old practices often in his own “half of a room that looks like a music studio,” complete with a real drum set. “Obviously he doesn’t know notes or anything like that, but he has an electric guitar and a ukulele, and he knows the difference between the two, plugs them in, and plays them. I have tons of videos of him playing and singing. I think he’s going to be good.” Keith doesn’t play an instrument, but he always loved attending concerts. “There has to be balance in your life.” Keith Kenney still travels whenever he can. He loves to reads nonfiction and mysteries, the “stuff that makes you think.” He continuously stays physically and mentally engaged, contributing to an overall healthy living.
Keith started his athletic career with soccer. From an early age, he competed with strong travel teams, reaching the state finals in many of those years, and at thirteen he made the All-USA East Coast select team. However, he bonded with his father over basketball, watching the Boston Celtics. When one of the soccer team parents asked the kids to play in a basketball CYO team in sixth grade, Keith fell in love with the court. He continued to play soccer until his sophomore year in high school, shocking the close friends on the travel team when he quit and then devoted himself fully to basketball.
Although he maintained a great academic record, graduating with honors, and could have had a choice of many good colleges with strong academics, he chose to attend Cobleskill to sharpen his basketball skills for two years before re-recruitment. “It didn’t challenge me academically, it was very easy, but I wanted to get re-recruited and take another shot at a high level program.” When he left Cobleskill, his team set the single season record for team wins at Cobleskill, missing the national tournament by 3 points. Keith received All-America recognition and remains a member of the Cobleskill Athletic Hall of Fame.
He initially disregarded new recruitment offers and went to the University of Central Florida. Although he originally intended to be a math or physical education teacher, while coaching students he realized he did not want to teach and instead pursued business. Still, he never “found a college with the right fit between academics and basketball,” and even after deliberately abandoning the sport, “I let the basketball lead me to the colleges and not academics.”
As a Middletown native, he took trips to New Paltz and knew the area well before deciding to attend the school. With two of his good friends already attending, one of whom had who played basketball with him at Cobleskill, he transferred in his junior year and graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in business management in 1999. During his two years on the basketball team, he proved himself as “one of the most talented men’s basketball players to ever suit up for the Hawks,” according to the Athletics and Wellness website. As a two-time First-Team All-State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) selection, and a part of the last winning men’s basketball team at our school, Keith received the Floyd Patterson Award for the 1998-99 academic year. “I just had to play every day. It was amazing: some of the best moments of my life!”
After graduating from SUNY New Paltz, Keith found employment at Infineon Technologies, a German computer company. There were arrangements to move to Denmark for a professional basketball team he had lined up; he considered the sport his career, and he planned to play for ten-to-fifteen years and figure out his goals afterwards. When the team fell through at the last minute, he stayed with the company for a few more years, installing computers across the country and frequently traveling to Infineon’s Munich headquarters. At times, he contemplated working in the business for the rest of his life, but then he realized, “after three or four years, I didn’t actually like what I was doing as much as I liked the people.” When he heard about the opening for a strength and conditioning coach at SUNY New Paltz, he left the lucrative career path and returned to the school in 2004. While many of his co-workers questioned his decision, he knew his heart would be into the job. “It was a natural fit, a dream come true. I didn’t know those kinds of jobs even existed. And you get paid for that?”
Shortly thereafter, the previous Wellness & Recreation Director retired and Keith Kenney took on the developing role in 2005. With more space for non-sports activities in the new Athletic and Wellness Center, Keith developed and ran the recreational programs and services, including group exercise classes, outdoor trips, intramurals, personal training sessions, health-assessments and wellness workshops. As the wellness activities grew, the school allocated increasing funds for more employees, including a fitness director, an Intramural director and a student work program to match the increasing demands. Today, Keith Kenney works behind the scenes, putting his business degree to good use with organizing and managing the large range of programs, yet his love for the position never wavered. “All the reasons I made the decision to come here are the reasons I still love it here and working with students.”
Currently, sports take a backseat to fitness, health and wellness. Although still a basketball junkie, following the professional games, “winning and losing doesn’t mean as much to me anymore. It’s more about the big picture, being healthy, and how much that can affect a person’s life.” While playing basketball, he noticed how training with weights, sprint work-outs, and plyometrics kept him in shape for the game; but now Keith is more driven to help the “average person,” rather than the athlete.
In that vein, Keith seizes opportunities to challenge himself physically, including playing on a minor league pro basketball team in 2007 and participating in the New York City Marathon in 2009. One of the largest marathons in the world, the 26-mile route spans the five NYC boroughs and attracts over forty thousand runners each year since 1970. “Nothing could top that. It’s such an amazing experience to run through New York City.” While the training was hard, Keith finds these physical challenges “make you feel alive.”
With a wellness aficionado in front of me, I could not pass up the opportunity on health advice. When asked about the largest unhealthy habit or behavior in an American daily lifestyle, Keith automatically responded with nutrition. “I think most people know that, but it’s heavily underrated. I always joke that people will spend days researching the newest gadget, but nutrition or how to work out are snap decisions. Educating themselves on what they put in their body is the biggest problem.”
Of course, simply discussing nutrition ignores many factors of overall lifestyle that wreck a healthy body. From exercise to sleep, to stress, every little detail of a daily routine contributes to overall wellness. Unhealthy living affects productivity, from the workplace to social life. Keith advises people to “keep it simple. With me, as an IT worker, I was in my worst physical condition, with sometimes two-to-three hours of sleep and frequently eating out at restaurants or fast food.”
Outside of wellness, Keith Kenney stays involved on campus through committee work. While the Workplace with Heart Committee dovetails with his duties as Wellness and Recreation Director, his current activity with the Judicial Board follows his interests in the broader campus community. Keith enjoys collaborating with different Student Affairs departments and helping students outside of the classroom. He knows, as a SUNY New Paltz graduate, that these activities are “all the things you remember when you graduate, besides your academics, of course.”
Outside of New Paltz, Keith adores spending time playing instruments and taking walks with his son, who “opened up a whole new world,” both in parenting and music. “We think he’s this little prodigy.” Along with strong support from his parents and his grandparents, who are musicians, the three-year-old practices often in his own “half of a room that looks like a music studio,” complete with a real drum set. “Obviously he doesn’t know notes or anything like that, but he has an electric guitar and a ukulele, and he knows the difference between the two, plugs them in, and plays them. I have tons of videos of him playing and singing. I think he’s going to be good.” Keith doesn’t play an instrument, but he always loved attending concerts. “There has to be balance in your life.” Keith Kenney still travels whenever he can. He loves to reads nonfiction and mysteries, the “stuff that makes you think.” He continuously stays physically and mentally engaged, contributing to an overall healthy living.
