Completed Event: Baseball versus (2) Georgia Tech on May 31, 2026 , Win , 15, to, 8
Final
Baseball
15
vs (2) Georgia Tech
8
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
19 Ways: First Year of Service
October 28, 2014 | Baseball
By John Rohde // SoonerSports.com
When the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral this summer, people helped promote awareness and donations for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Family, friends, neighbors, athletes, celebrities and complete strangers poured a bucket of ice water on their head and prodded others to do the same to help raise money for a disease that has no known cure.
The Ice Bucket Challenge was a chilling experience for those who partook, but imagine the chill Oklahoma baseball coach Pete Hughes felt when he answered his cell phone in April 2012.
On the other end of the line was Pete Frates, a player Hughes recruited to Boston College, who had just been diagnosed with ALS.
The origin of the Ice Bucket Challenge has been attributed to various charities, but it gained its greatest exposure and momentum in support of Frates. Hughes hopes to someday build that same interest in a community service program he created to honor his mother.
Alice Hughes was a nursing home nurse who died of pancreatic cancer at age 53. She was born on September 19, which made 19 her favorite number, and this is why Hughes wears jersey No. 19 with the Sooners. "She was the ultimate giver who never asked for anything in return," Hughes said of his mother.
The greatest source Oklahoma has is its people. You don't know what that statement means until you're entrenched in the commumity.
Pete Hughes
While coaching at Virginia Tech prior to getting hired at OU in June 2013, Hughes started the “19 Ways” community service program. Each year's goal is to make an impact on the local community in 19 different ways. Hughes brought “19 Ways” with him when he came to Norman.
The program became an instant success last season and was jump-started by the inaugural ALS Awareness Halloween Game during which OU players and coaches wore costumes to benefit the Pete Frates #3 Fund. This year's Halloween Game will be held Thursday (Oct. 30) at 6 p.m. at L. Dale Mitchell Park. Admission is free for fans and children, who are encouraged to wear costumes.
Frates was a local kid who dreamed of playing for Boston College. Trouble was, Hughes said Frates was barely noticeable as a player at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, 20 miles north of Boston.
“Pete was not getting recruited by anybody, but he was so persistent to go to Boston College,” Hughes recalled. “It was because of that winning spirit that I took him, those winning qualities. The kid didn't crack the starting lineup in high school until his senior year. That's unheard of to go on to play Division I ball after that. He traveled as a freshman. Two years later, he's starting, then he's a captain. That's who he is, an overachiever.”
Five years after his Boston College career came the diagnosis for ALS.
“I guess the big guy has another calling for me,” Frates told Hughes in that phone call 2½ years ago. “I'm going to raise more awareness than anyone ever has for this disease. I'm going to solicit funds from every multi-millionaire and billionaire in the country. I'm going to take advantage of my strength, my energy, my ability to communicate and motivate.”
Fast forward to 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge becomes an Internet sensation and to date $121 million has been raised. “Research that was on the shelf to begin three years from now is happening today because of Pete,” Hughes said. “His father (John) said, 'Lou Gehrig's name is on the disease and Pete's name is going to be on the cure.' ”
Like Frates and all those ice buckets, Hughes wouldn't mind if “19 Ways” someday went viral. Notre Dame baseball and Delaware football have shown an interest in implementing the program, as has Northeastern University in Boston, where Hughes served as an assistant football and baseball coach from 1991-96.
Hughes credits OU volunteer assistant/recruiting coordinator Ryan Connolly for the behind-the-scenes success of “19 Ways.” Connolly was an assistant under Hughes at Virginia Tech and took over as the project's coordinator when he came to Norman. Connolly's father, Michael, died of lung cancer in 2002 when Ryan was 15. The family established the Michael E. Connolly Endowment for Lung Cancer Research, which to date has raised $900,000.
That “19 Ways” caught on so quickly in Oklahoma came as no surprise to Hughes, who was hired five weeks after an EF5 tornado devastated Moore and several other communities throughout the state on May 20, 2013.
“The selling point to me from everybody in the [OU] hiring process was, 'The greatest source Oklahoma has is its people,'” Hughes explained. “I must have heard that 10-15 times. You don't know what that statement means until you're entrenched in the community and go around this state. I'll tell you, they were spot-on. We're involved with a couple of people in the recruiting process from Moore who lost everything they had, and those are the nicest people I've ever met. The people around here are amazing to me, inspiring actually. You really find out what kind of people you're walking around with after something like that.”
Hughes and his wife, Debby, have five children (Thomas, Hal, Dominic, Grace and P.J.) and Hughes said the transition of relocating his family from Blacksburg, Va., to Norman, “was made seamless because of the people here.”
Unfortunately, Hughes was no stranger to tragedy in a local community prior to OU. He was in his first season of coaching the Hokies when the Virginia Tech Massacre took place on April 16, 2007. A student killed 32 people and wounded 17 others in the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in U.S. history.
I'm a Houston guy and Oklahoma's welcomed me, Norman's welcomed me as one of their own. It would be selfish of me not to want to give back.
Robert Tasin, Pitcher
As is the case whenever tragedy strikes Oklahoma, Hughes said the healing process began quickly at Virginia Tech. “There was no finger-pointing,” Hughes said. “It was all, 'How can we help make someone feel better?' It was immediate and it was complete.”
Perhaps the most impactful “19 Ways” event came last April when the Sooners shaved their heads and raised $29,173 in support of the Vs. Cancer Foundation and OU Children's Hospital. “That's more than we raised the three previous years at Virginia Tech,” Hughes said. “Awareness is great and there's the head-shaving, but the key to all this is raising money to find a cure [for childhood cancer]. I think Children's Hospital is such a great fit for who we are and what we do here.”
Connolly said he still can't believe the charitable reaction to the Children's Hospital event. “That was one of the most incredible things I've ever been a part of,” Connolly said. “Being around those kids and getting them involved in our program and around our facilities, that'll put it in perspective pretty quickly for you in terms of the choices you have and the lack of choices those kids have.”
Despite how attached college kids frequently are to their hair, Hughes said no one in the program ran from the razor. “Our guys get it. They understand,” Hughes said. “I say it all the time, 'We are privileged, not entitled.' That says everything. Our kids know how fortunate they are. And when you do good, it makes you feel good.”
Right-handed pitcher Robert Tasin is a redshirt-senior whose first experience with community service was helping out with the Moore tornado before Hughes had even arrived. “It definitely makes you appreciative for what you have and what you can do,” Tasin said. “There are only 35 guys here who can wear an Oklahoma baseball jersey and represent this university on the field.”
The tornado hit the same week the 2013 Big 12 Tournament began at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. Tasin recalled the West Virginia team going to Moore to help with the relief effort. “They were 100-percent bought in, helping a community that wasn't even in their home state,” Tasin said. “That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.”
Though the Sooners are out to improve on last year's 29-29 record, it's not all baseball all the time. “I was fortunate enough to join one of the best guys ever, let alone in college baseball,” Connolly said of Hughes. “It's been a pretty perfect ride so far for me to be at a place like this and get to do what I do. I'm at an excellent spot.”
Tasin said “19 Ways” has helped bring the Sooners closer together and he can't imagine not participating in some kind of service project. “It would almost feel selfish not to go out and do something,” Tasin said. “I'm a Houston guy [Klein High School] and Oklahoma's welcomed me, Norman's welcomed me as one of their own. It would be selfish of me not to want to give back.”
The “19 Ways” program runs throughout the fall and spring semesters and is off to a fast start this school year. Connolly said nine charities have been visited in October alone. The projects vary slightly every year. “We want to create some variety,” Connolly said, “but there are a couple of charities that we will always do because they're so important to us.”
Though this year's slate is full, the actual number of service projects often extends beyond 19. “We'll take any request and if we can help you in any way, please contact us (rconnolly@ou.edu),” Hughes said.
For the next scheduled event, on-line voting was held to determine which costume Hughes would wear for this year's ALS Awareness Halloween game, and country singer Toby Keith was in the lead with 57-percent of the vote on Monday.
Hughes gladly accepted the challenge to come as Keith, a Clinton native who has a keen interest in OU athletics. “If I can look a lot like Toby Keith and have my bank account sort of look like his for one day, then I'm all in,” Hughes joked. “You talk about (people from) Oklahoma, that's Oklahoma right there. He pretty much embodies all those qualities. Just a regular guy, which is the way we like it around here.”
Connolly chuckled while envisioning Hughes decked out as Keith. “Anytime you can get a guy from Brockton [Mass.] in a pair of boots and a cowboy hat, you've got to take full advantage of it,” Connolly said. “That's a 'Blue Moon' album cover right there. Coach can definitely pull it off.”
| About John Rohde |
 John Rohde is a respected name on the Oklahoma sports scene and will provide regular features for SoonerSports.com. Voted Oklahoma Sportswriter of the Year five times, Rohde has covered OU football and basketball, the Oklahoma City Thunder, OKC/New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, the Final Four, Masters and PGA Tour. He spent over 26 years for The Oklahoman, serving as a columnist and beat writer. He can be heard on 107.7 The Franchise, the flagship station for OU Athletics weekdays from 5:30-9 a.m. |
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