It’s no secret: playing sports as a child leads to many benefits in adulthood. Take a 2012 report by TrueSport as an example. The program, which seeks to ensure a positive youth sport experience by promoting competition, sportsmanship and peak performance, celebrates the success that lifelong athletes gain. The report shows that being active on a team as a child leads to a laundry list of positives, including what the program calls the five “C’s”: competence, confidence, connections, character and caring.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services praises sports for career benefits. “While it might be hard to argue that sports participation could guarantee higher incomes, promotions, and better jobs, the leadership skills and development of teamwork, hard work, and determination might help prepare students to be leaders at work and in their communities later in life,” the website says.
So it makes sense that business leaders at the very top of their field would be not only athletic growing up, but indeed some of the best in the country. Here’s a list of nine CEOs obsessed with a sport growing up – and successful in business, too.
1. Jeff Immelt
Before Jeff Immelt, 58, headed General Electric (GE), he got his chops as a leader of Dartmouth College's JV football team. By his senior year, he was a starting offensive tackle for the Ivy League institution, according to Fortune. At 6'4" the man was a force to be reckoned with on the field as he would later be in boardrooms. At Dartmouth, too, the combination of his prowess as a student-athlete and character earned him the Early Hamilton Varsity Award, according to Dartmouth's website. He was also a member of the Phi Delta Alpha fraternity.
2. Brian Moynihan
The CEO of Bank of America (BAC) Brian Moynihan, 55, is apparently obsessed with rugby, a sport he played at Brown University, in law school at Notre Dame and with the Providence Rugby Club. He apparently had a blast competing, too. "It was a great group of teammates,” Moynihan said, according to an article in The Brown Daily Herald, “many of whom I keep up with today.” He even helped Brown raise $1 million to build the Brown Rugby Field in 2004.
3. Indra Nooyi
The PepsiCo (PEP) CEO Indra Nooyi, 58, grew up playing cricket in college in India. But when she moved to the U.S., she wanted to keep her love of sport alive. "There were many times that I felt like a fish out of water, times that I really said to myself, 'do I even fit in,'" Nooyi said in an interview. That's how she decided to play baseball. She also reportedly studied the New York Yankees in order to relate to her U.S. peers. "Once I did that I could then say, 'I really like this game and I like the Yankees' as opposed to pretending,'" she said.
4. Alan Mulally
Alan Mulally, 69, the former CEO of Ford (F), was crazy about tennis growing up - and good at it as well. After earning his undergrad degree from the University of Kansas, Mulally competed on the semi-pro tennis circuit. He even started the Boeing Employees Tennis Club after beginning work at the company in 1969. "You know how big a deal it was to have a tennis club in Seattle? It rains a lot. I presented it to Boeing as part of their recreation strategy to have healthy employees," he said in a January 2012 interview. He's also reportedly competitive at golf.
5. Walter Robb
Walter Robb, 60, is all about promoting healthy living as CEO of Whole Foods (WFM). But before that, he was a soccer maven, serving as the captain of Stanford's squad. That's exactly how's he's summed up in a post for Stanford alumni, too. "Born and raised on the East Coast, Robb was a dedicated student and soccer team captain at Stanford, but among his friends and professors (who knew him as “Robbie”), he was known for his interest in ecologically sound eating," according to this article.
6. John Donahoe
John Donahoe, 54, of eBay (EBAY) earned his JV letter at Dartmouth in basketball. The 6'5" CEO scored 34 points and 32 rebounds on the court during his freshman year, and doesn't hide his love of the sport today. "When John Donahoe was an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College, he was a normal student-athlete – bright, focused, and quite involved on campus," according to The Dartmouth Business Journal. His Twitter feed, too, screams a passion for sports: "CEO of @eBayInc. Husband of @EileenDonahoe. Father. Basketball junkie. Passionate about Connected Commerce & creating more opportunities together." Thankfully, "Basketball junkie" comes after father - and husband.
7. Edward Rust
State Farm Insurance CEO Edward Rust, 64, spent four years wrestling in high school in Illinois before competing in college at both Lawrence Univeristy and Illinois Wesleyan. There, he earned a 22-8-1 record and claimed two NAIA District Championships, according to Fortune. Rust's accomplishments didn't go unnoticed. In fact, the Wrestling Hall of Fame named him an "Outstanding Citizen" in 1994. And wrestling wasn't his only sport either. He also played football for the Titans, Illinois Wesleyan's team.
8. Irene Rosenfeld
Irene Rosenfeld, 61, is another CEO who used sports as a springboard to boardroom success. While growing up, the Mondelez International head played almost any sport imaginable, including volleyball, field hockey, softball and basketball. But it would be the last sport to pique her interest most. In fact, she planned to play it at Cornell University. Although she ultimately succumbed to a broken leg during her freshman year which prevented her from competing at the highest level, Rosenfeld did intramural sports at the Ivy League institution. She's pretty talented with a jump rope , too, showing her prowess during a recent volunteer event.
9. Brian Roberts
The Comcast (CMCSA) CEO Brian Roberts, 55, didn't excel at basketball (he was reportedly cut from the team in high school), but he was a star at squash. He played four years at Penn, including being the No. 1 player, a co-captain, and a first-team All-Ivy and All-American. But that wasn't all Roberts accomplished. He grabbed a slew of silver medals (in 1981, 1985, 1997 and 2009) and a gold medal in 2006 in Israel's Maccabiah Games. He spoke with Sports Illustrated about his success in 2004: "If you're going to accomplish something in business, you have to be tough, physically and mentally."
