A transition from basketball to hockey would seem unlikely, as
the two sports have little in common.
But Kevin Walker, who played basketball at UCLA from
’87-’90, and later received an MBA from UCLA’s
Anderson School, is doing just that.
On July 15, Walker was named the general manager of the
Huntsville Channel Cats, a team in the Atlantic Coast Hockey
League.
“I had never envisioned myself in hockey,” Walker
said. “But sports marketing can cross over multiple
industries.”
Walker’s ultimate goal is to get into upper management for
a team in one of the major professional leagues. But that
wasn’t always his goal.
He went into Anderson chasing a high-tech dream, but the
technology industry began to suffer.
“I started to take a long, hard look at what would
interest me ““ sports management,” Walker said.
For the past two years, Walker had worked as a senior manager of
basketball operations for the Huntsville Flight, a team in the
National Basketball Developmental League for the NBA.
The switch has been a little rough so far.
“I’m part of a start-up environment to a more
extreme extent,” Walker said. “In the NBDL, I had the
luxury of (the) NBA guiding us through. Now, you really have to
focus on minute details like getting computers, Post-it
Notes.”
The ACHL originally existed from 1981-1987 and made a return in
2002.
This is Huntsville’s first season in the league.
Walker has a lot of work to be done before the season
starts.
“My immediate goals include to make the Channel Cats as a
viable hockey team before October,” Walker said.
“It’s not an ideal time frame to get word out. The
Channel Cats have been here previously, they’d just been out
of the market.”
Walker was the UCLA team captain in 1989, and still remains a
Bruin fan.
“The past couple years have been tough, but my support has
never wavered,” Walker said.
“There is such a high standard. So many things are
expected.”
But as many Bruin fans are, Walker is optimistic about the
future of the UCLA program with Ben Howland at the helm.
“I’ve known Ben Howland since high school. I was
recruited by him when he was at UC Santa Barbara. I’m very
pleased that we can get him on board.”
“We are thrilled to have someone of Kevin’s diverse
background, leadership and experience to take the Channel Cats into
an exciting action-packed season,” Channel Cat owner John
Cherney said.
It sounds like the Channel Cats are happy to have Walker on
board too.