It seems Sam Kelner rarely ever sits behind his office desk. Instead, his Simon Recreation Center post is a sort of base of operations from which he orchestrates the growing intramural and club sport programs at the University.
Many students on campus know Kelner as “the Rec Center Guy” or “the guy who grills all the hot dogs” for recreational events. Kelner, with wide eyes, an enthusiastic greeting and, often, a 44-ounce 7-Eleven Big Gulp cup in-hand, is often seen recruiting interested students to form or join intramural teams-“the more teams, the better,” he said.
Kelner has worked with intramurals and club sports at Saint Louis University for 10 years, and he got much of his enthusiasm while an undergraduate student. As a freshman at the University of Houston, Kelner started his first intramural team with “about 40 other guys” in his dormitory hall.
After he graduated, he accepted a position to help grow the intramural program at his alma mater. There, he recruited intramural teams, started events between the downtown campus and the central campus and held a charity tournament, at which he grilled a few hundred of his first hot dogs.
“I’ve loved sports my whole life,” said Kelner, a University City native, whose father took him to Cardinals games at Sportsman’s Park when he was five years old.
Even throughout his undergraduate years in Houston, Kelner managed to listen to broadcasts of Cardinals games on the radio of his Chevrolet.
“The radio waves were so strong,” Kelner said. “The kids down there were astounded; it sounded like it was right there in Houston.”
Even with his passion for sports, Kelner has tried other trades. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Houston, he returned to school for a second bachelor’s in hotel and restaurant management.
Kelner got some tips on getting into the pizza business from Joseph Pisani, an uncle of Ed Imo, founder of Imo’s Pizza. For a while, he ran his own St. Louis-style pizza restaurant, Mia Pizza, in Houston, while still running the intramural sports program at the University of Houston.
Kelner also worked part time for 10 years at the athletic ticket office, and five years as “Swollen Sam the Ticketron Man,” a radio personality for a a classic-rock station in Houston.
Kelner said he used his radio position to get listeners excited about local events.
During his 26 years in Houston, Kelner carried his passion for generating enthusiasm, especially about sports and team building, into his job as an intramural coordinator. When he returned to St. Louis to be closer to his family, he approached SLU looking for a similar position.
“I told them: ‘I’m your man’,” Kelner said, and a year and a half later, when the intramural and club sports coordinator position opened, they offered it to him. Since then, Kelner has been developing SLU’s sports scene.
When Kelner started in 1997, the University had four working sports clubs; now, students can choose from 25. Kelner has recruited well-known St. Louis athletes such as crewmember Scott Allison and rugby player Justin Whitton to help teach students to play their respective sports at SLU, for free.
The desk itself is covered with evidence of his efforts: stacks of Intramural fliers and registration forms, promotional projects started by his student assistants and, sometimes, a Big Gulp cup.
Kelner’s aim has been to help provide the same memorable experience for SLU students as he had with his college intramural teammates.
“All 40 of us still get together every Good Friday to play golf,” said Kelner.
He said that some of his most lasting relationships started on the intramural fields and courts.
“I want students to have such a good experience that they want to come back and keep playing,” said Kelner, “They’re going to remember all of these things.”
