A few words
About Champions for Lee
our story
What began as an intense competitive rivalry between 2 child adversaries matured into an ironclad friendship, creating a beacon of hope for school youth sports programs.
Our story owes its humble beginnings to the innocent backdrop of preschool. Two young boys, each 5 years of age, both harboring an intense competitive drive, seemed unwilling to yield even one ounce of that competitive dominance over the other. This adversarial firestorm between the two rivals ran the gamut of, being the first out onto the playground, to pure domination over the other on the court or field, with not many high fives in between.
By 6th grade, it seemed that their quest to dominate one another in competitive sports had more in common with establishing influence than actually achieving victory itself. Both boys had come to the realization that the intense competitive zeal they carried within, never to accept defeat, was a virtue they found themselves admiring about each other. And so it was that Lee Holt and Nate Denton tossed aside their incessant need for competitive conquest and gloating, and realized that they had totally missed the virtue that could be easily seen in one another.
Very quickly, the two found themselves inexplicably bound together in their beliefs, values and competitive challenges. They became the best of friends and for the next 30 years, their bond remained resolute.
In 2012, a tragedy took the life of Lee Holt. Lee Holt’s life, his deep values, his epic character and sincere empathy for others left a cosmic impact on the community, as well as his friend, Nate Denton.
Champions for Lee has been created by Nate Denton to honor the undying legacy of Lee’s unrelenting competitive spirit, the vastness of his heart, his unending drive to inspire and lift everyone up around him, as well as his passion to develop and coach young athletes.