Fish out of water
Miami Dolphins punter Brandon Fields and his wife, Katie, are getting kids active with their Fields Fit Fest.
If there’s one unfortunate truth about football it’s that the punter barely gets any glory. He rarely throws a touchdown, catches one, or makes a game-winning pick 6. At best, he’s on the field for a fraction of the four quarters, and hardly visible during an effective offensive game.
Good thing the glory Miami Dolphins punter Brandon Fields seeks doesn’t solely come in the form of touchdowns or interceptions. Instead it extends from the football field and goes well beyond it. Fields and his wife, Katie, created the Brandon and Katie Fields Youth Fitness Fund in 2010 to give kids a chance to be active. Inspired by the NFL Play 60 campaign to get kids active for at least 60 minutes a day, the Fieldses have brought their own brand of exercise and activity to both their home state of Ohio and current residence of South Florida.
The two high school sweethearts arrived in South Florida seven years ago by way of Ohio, where Katie went to school and where Fieldses was originally from, and Michigan, where Fields starred as Michigan State’s punter. Fields was an elite Big Ten punter, so widely acclaimed that the conference named the punter of the year honor the Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year Award (co-named with Illinois punter Dike Eddleman).
Despite all his on-field accolades, Fields wanted himself and his wife to leave an impression on the community in other ways.
“Our passion is promoting fitness in kids,” Katie explains. “With all the video games out there, and all the fitness cutbacks in school… We just wanted to give kids the opportunity to be active.”
The opportunities come in the form of free daylong camps called the Fields Fit Fest, which are filled with activities like dance contests, relay games and relaxed yoga classes. The aim is to have fun and be healthy, Fields says, “not necessarily knowing they are exercising.”
What propelled the Fieldses, both 29, to create their fund and field day was the rise in childhood obesity. While it’s no secret that obese youths are likely to develop prediabetes and cardiovascular disease, like high cholesterol or high blood pressure, the couple’s mission is to activate healthy lives.
“It’s just sad,” Katie, a chiropractor, says when reminded of those childhood obesity details. “You wait for those numbers to go down. I hope more kids know it’s a lifestyle choice and they can do something about it.”
Originally created in the couple’s Toledo, Ohio, hometown, the Fields Fit Fest has also found a place in South Florida, thanks to its partnership with Broward Health and the Chris Evert Children’s Hospital. There have been four Fields Fit Fest at Broward County public parks this year, with around 75 to 100 kids attending each field day.
A wide range of children attend, including one who makes Fields smiles each time he thinks about the boy.
“He’s this tiny little guy full of energy,” Fields describes, “and he always comes up screaming from, like, 200 yards away in the parking lot, yelling my name. … These kids just light up when they know they’re coming out here.”
Another girl showed up to a Fields Fit Fest in a wheelchair, just days after having hip surgery. She didn’t want to miss the event, Fields says. She had so much fun last Fields Fit Fest that she didn’t want to miss out on the festivities – despite recovering from hip surgery. “I don’t know if I could go if I just had surgery,” Fields jokes.
For the Fieldses, they have long-term goals with these youths who attend their fitness camps. They hope these daylong fitness sessions aren’t fleeting, that these kids incorporate these exercises in their daily lives as well as their parents’ lives, and become healthy and active for a lifetime. That’s one reason why the activities are not equipment-related, so kids and adults have ways to stay active even if no equipment is available.
And as the football season unfolds, Fields looks to contribute to a winning Dolphins season. Something else to look forward to this season? The birth of their first child, with Katie due in December.
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