Ian Hill has made a living at motivational speaking. Now, he wants to see if he can set a world record with it.
But his motivation is not the acclaim. Rather, it’s a fundraiser to send his soccer club to an international tournament in Canada during the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“I can’t cut a check for 80 grand, so I’m going to give what I can,” he said. “And what I can do is talk. It’s all I got.”
Hill is set to attempt to speak for 48 hours straight March 12-14 at the Brewery Arts Center’s Ballroom to set the new Guinness Record.
He’s compiling the talks he gives — ranging from employee productivity and organizational effectiveness to inspiring individuals to become catalysts of social change — and inviting the public to attend.
He’s encouraging companies and individuals to review his list of topics and attend the portion that’s interesting or relevant to them.
“It’s the same training I do all around the world,” Hill said. “People usually pay thousands of dollars for it. But I wanted to do something that might also be beneficial to the community.”
Hill is a coach for and founder of the CPAC soccer program, which is based in the Woodside Drive area, but draws participants from throughout Carson City.
He’s collecting pledges to sponsor a dollar amount for each hour he speaks.
He said he will need about $90,000 to take 80 girls to the Presidents Invitational Cup in Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada, — just outside of Edmonton, where the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be taking place at the same time.
Darin Burgeois brought his daughter to CPAC after finding disappointment in other programs, where certain players received the bulk of time and and attention while others were sidelined.
He said his daughter has transformed under Hill’s program, where teamwork and love are stressed above all.
“Ian’s coaching philosophy is unlike any other that I’ve seen. His concept of love, at first, seemed way out there to me,” Burgeois said. “But, as the season wore on, his values of love, equality, effort and sacrifice, not for oneself, but for the team resonated with the not only the kids but with their parents as well. So much so that of the nine families that were on that team, seven are still heavily involved three seasons later.”
Hill said his driving force behind fundraising to take the team to Canada is to show the girls — many of whom come from low socioeconomic homes — can accomplish their dreams through determination.
“I’m going to give everything I can,” he said. “I hope it’s role modeling for the kids. Whatever you’ve got, give it to the max.”
Soccer player Brigette Quintero, 12, a sixth-grader at Eagle Valley Middle School, has faith Hill is going to be successful at breaking the record
“I firmly believe he can,” she said. “He is so motivational. I feel like he can accomplish anything.”
