Let's meet Cal
Meet the R4R Runners #84
Welcome to the 84th edition of Meet the R4R Runners, where we get to meet Australian Basketball Legend, Cal Bruton. He’s provided some cracking answers and believes in the concept of Community and Exercise as a coping (and a preparation) mechanism for hard times… albeit through basketball!
So, without further ado, let’s meet Cal!
What’s your name?
My full name is Calvin Thomas Bruton and my Australian family nicknamed me, the Black Pearl.
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York September 29th, 1954.
How long have you lived in Canberra and what brought you here?
I've been living in Canberra since Boxing Day, 1999 - 23 years next month. I came here to take up the role of NBL Head Coach of the Canberra Cannons Basketball Team.
Community and exercise have helped so many people through tough times and it’s something we’ve seen through R4R.
Have you seen the same thing through Basketball?
Without a doubt, community exercise has helped so many people in the basketball communities around the country. Young, old, men, women, boys, girls, of all sizes and abilities. Basketball is a sport that lends itself to positive energy by playing yourself into shape.
The joy, enthusiasm, and passion you feel when you play the game and the belief that teamwork makes the dream work, are values you gain from playing basketball, sharing, caring, and facilitating as it brings out a great team spirit to perform and inspire others to do the same.
The Bruton Basketball Foundation promotes all of the above by providing pathways for disadvantaged youth, using basketball as a tool of engagement to provide pathways to further educational and future employment opportunities.
BBF has been blessed to be given a platform from Professor David Hollander who has written a book called "How Basketball Can Save The World". Professor Hollander lobbied 76 countries at the United Nations to recognize and promote the 1st ever World Basketball Day and Dr. James Naismith, who created the game on December 21st, 1891 in Springfield Massachusetts. Bruton Basketball Foundation will be campaigning WBD around Australia from the Capital leading up to the event encouraging everyone "to take a shot of you making a shot" and upload it for WBD on the BBF website. We hope it will create a wonderful example of team spirit.
Did basketball help you through your own struggles?
Basketball has definitely helped me through my own struggles at different stages of my life.
When I was young I used to play baseball and have a catch with my dad. He was killed when I was 7 years of age and obviously not having him around ended that. Once my mom bought me my first basketball, I used to go to the park and it became my sanctuary, where I could shoot by myself and with whoever showed up to play. It didn't matter whether it was cold, hot, raining, or snowing, I would go and shoot on the courts and play imaginary games by myself which I never lost 😊
Later in life when basketball became my job and things weren't going well, I would go and coach young kids, and seeing their eyes light up learning new skills always gave me a good feeling.
When you look back on the hardest moment in your life, is there anything you wish you could have told yourself?
When I look back at those hard moments in life, I wish I could have told myself to not be in a hurry to get to my destination. There were times that I rushed into things, quick decisions that needed time to be sorted, and as a result of rushing, it put me in difficult situations. When I lost my dad and then my mom, I felt it was all on me and I began to rush decisions. I went through a divorce, remarried, 2nd divorce, having more children and then I slowed down, and now I'm living my best life. I can honestly say my autobiography, “The Black Pearl No Regrets" is authentic. My focus and goals in life have been to put sunshine in other people’s lives, particularly young disadvantaged youth, therefore you can't keep it from yourself.
Which three people (alive or dead) would you want to go for a run with?
The 3 people that I would want to go for a run with would be Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, and Kobe Bryant. The reason is they all stood for something different that was game-changing in life. Not only for them but for generations on generations.
What does resilience mean to you?
Resilience means staying the course, bouncing back, and never giving up on yourself. Knowing you will be tested in life and having resilience will help you recover through being kind and loving yourself and your family.
Thanks, Cal!
