The new athletic director at the Boys & Girls Club McKee Branch understands the value of sports in adolescent life because it was playing sports in his youth that put Yoshoub Timms on the path to his new role at the club.

Timms – or Shoub, as everyone at the Boys & Girl club calls him – played nearly every sport growing up in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. But football was always his passion.

“I love sports in general,” Timms said. “Growing up my dad would put my brother and me into basketball camps, so I try to play them all (sports) but football is my favorite.”

Timms started playing football with two childhood friends and neighbors, Brandon and Kyle. It was their father, Mr. Jack, who signed Timms up for his first contact league.

“I started playing when I was six years old and I didn’t stop until after college,” Timms said. “I used to play tackle football in the yard with my two best friends. Brandon got into football early and then Mr. Jack said ‘you should try to join. You’re big and fast.’”

Mr. Jack’s description could not be more apt. Timms grew to be 6’4’’, weighing close to 280 pounds. His surprising speed allowed him to move positions on defense, from linebacker to defensive tackle. Timms’ future coaches consider him a jack of all trades.

Mr. Jack approached Timms’ parents to ask if he could sign up Timms for the league and, after some days of thought, Timms’ parents agreed.

“Mr. Jack was happy,” Timms said. “Because he told me if my parents said no he was just going to sign me up anyway.”

Contact football at age six was just the first step in a very successful football career for Timms, who played varsity as a sophomore in high school and eventually signed with the University of Minnesota.

As a Golden Gopher Timms made 30 tackles, played in over 25 games and earned himself a spot on the Academic All-Big Ten for maintaining a GPA over 3.0.

Timms had the chance to go to the NFL but decide not to because of the toll the sport was taking on his body.

“In my senior year (at college) I had hurt my back to the point where I couldn’t feel my legs,” Timms explained. “After that I thought this was my last year of football, I was fed up with it (injuries). Football has been good to me but it was time.”

Timms, who went to college on an athletic scholarship, made sure that he made school just as much of a priority as football. Timms graduated as part of the class of 2016 with a degree in Business Marketing as well as having a head-start in his Master’s program.

The silver lining to Timms’ injuries in college was that it got him to think about life after football.

“We did a lot of volunteer work with kids,” Timms said. “There was one semester that we had to work in an elementary school for class. That is where my new passion [came from] and I thought maybe this is something I can do.”

So after graduating Timms secured a job as teacher’s assistant at a school for kids from tough backgrounds in Minnesota. After a year at that position Timms moved to a school district in Phoenix, once again working with troubled kids.

During that time Timms discovered that he really had a knack for working with youngsters.

“It was eye opening. I realized this is where I need to be,” Timms said. “That changed my whole perspective on life. There was a kid there that his whole life hated school and I was able to change that.”

When Timms saw the position of athletic director open up locally, he saw the perfect opportunity to marry the two passions in his life.

Timms grow up with a lot of mentors in life; fellow players, coaches and even the athletic director at his local Boys & Girls club in Florida. For Timms, the chance to take on the role of mentor is wonderful.

“It feels great to be able to give back what I was taught,” Timms said. “Every day I get to make kids smile and to be able to support them. That is everything to me.”

Timms wants to pass on the same lessons sports taught him to the kids at the Boys & Girls Club.

“Sports really do build character,” Timms said. “It really does and it teaches you so many life lessons. I feel like sports give kids something to motivate them. You make friends with your teammates and it gives you responsibilities that you’ll be held accountable for.”

Timms wants to make sure that his passion for sport and what he does gets across to the kids.

“I want to bring enthusiasm,” Timms said. “I want the kids to know that they can come to the Boys & Girls Club to have fun and do the things they want to do.”

One sport that Timms will be focusing on is flag football.

“Flag football is a big deal at the Boys & Girls club,” Timms said. “There is a lot that flag can teach you that you don’t learn in contact. It seems like the program has died down here so I want to bring it back and let the kids know this should be something to be involved in.”

As Timms gets settled in to his new role at the club he looks forward to getting more involved with the community.

“If anybody doesn’t know me yet, they will know me,” Timms said.