July 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 52

Host of American Ninja Warrior to
Keynote NRPA Annual Conference
By Cort Jones

att Iseman has quite the résumé. He's the host of the Emmy nominated
" American Ninja Warrior, " the newest Celebrity Apprentice, a comedian, actor and doctor. He is a strong advocate for the Arthritis Foundation, among many others, and is fighting an ongoing battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis himself. Even with his ridiculously hectic schedule, Iseman still sees
the importance of taking the time to live an active lifestyle in order to feel his best.
To add to his long list of accomplishments, this September Iseman will be
the keynote speaker at the 2017 NRPA
Annual Conference, and he couldn't be
more excited to meet with park and recreation professionals in the Big Easy.
Parks & Recreation recently caught up
with Iseman to learn why he feels parks
and recreation is vital to our lives and
what quality recreation opportunities
mean to him. Trust him, he's a doctor.
Parks & Recreation magazine: You're
the host of American Ninja Warrior,
which just started its new season
and is a pretty rigorous physical
competition. As far as health and
wellness, which is one of NRPA's
Three Pillars, why do you feel physical
activity is so important?
Matt Iseman: What I've seen in my life
is that staying active keeps you active. In
other words, the more active I am, the
better I feel. Like with American Ninja
Warrior, it shows what the average person can do with a little hard work. We've
been watching the NBA Finals and the
Stanley Cup, and these are world-class
athletes. With American Ninja Warrior,
these are ordinary people who have fam-

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ilies and full-time jobs - they don't get
paid to work out, but they find time to do
it. It's really inspiring for people watching at home to see these competitors and
see what's possible. They see the power
of hard work and physical activity. They
see these people not only transform their
lives physically, but also the discipline
that comes along with working out and
feeling better. But you don't have to be an
American Ninja Warrior - sometimes
it's just being more active than you were
the day before.
P&R: Recreational programs and
activities bring people together
and promote healthy lifestyles. How
important is the role of parks and
recreation in making a difference in
communities and shaping the lives of
all people from different ethnicities,
ages and abilities?
Iseman: We get submission videos every
year from people working out at parks
and playgrounds, finding ways to get active. Just having a place to go do it is really important. I grew up playing sports,
and I can think of a dozen parks around
the area I grew up where I played soccer,
baseball and football. Those parks were a
part of my life and were a place where people would go to be active and have a good
time. The cool thing is that parks are places
people can go to be together. They're really
an invaluable thing to have in society because, despite being more connected today
than ever before, personally, people are

July 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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