Former BMX Pro, U.S. Olympic Coach & Recovering Addict
After paroling prison on December 13, 2008, Tony Hoffman started living out his dream, with his addiction behind him. Tony is a Former BMX Elite Pro and is currently ranked #2 in Masters Pro class. He is a 2016 Rio Olympic Games Coach, with Women’s BMX PRO, Brooke Crain, in his lineup. His story is full of redemption as he has seen some of the highest highs, and the lowest lows. Tony is the Founder and Director of The Freewheel Project, a non-profit organization that mentors thousands of youth through action sports: BMX, skateboarding and after-school programs. The Freewheel Project focuses on teaching kids leadership skills, and making healthy life choices, including substance abuse prevention, each year. In 2016 he also began writing his first book, titled, Coming Clean. Read More >
Tony has been sober since May 17th, 2007. His BMX career started in high school, as he was a top-ranked BMX amateur with multiple endorsements. As a native of Clovis, Ca, where he attended Clovis High School, Tony started drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and using prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and Oxycontin by his senior year. His life took a turn for the worse as he became addicted at such a young age, losing everything.
In 2004 Tony committed a home invasion armed robbery, and was ultimately sent to prison for two years in 2007. Tony had violated his probation and knows the depths of addiction, and understands the despair addicts go through as even a ten-year prison sentence threat, could not stop him from using during his probation. Tony began rebuilding his life’s purpose while he spent two years in prison. As soon as he was released, he used the positive and negatives of his life to get to where he is, today.
Tony is a changed man, and inspires so many to live their life with purpose. Tony has dedicated his life, to bringing awareness around the country, describing how dangerous prescription pill and heroin abuse are, as well as advocating a shift in thinking towards current addiction-recovery processes. Read Less ^
TEDx: The Stigma of Addiction
Healthcare Promo
Student Testimony
Sports Teams
Corporate Promo
In this speech, Tony reflects strongly on a specific “choice” that changed his life forever. Often times, individuals may think that small, and insignificant choices have no impact on their lives. Tony walks audiences through a candid set of choices, attitudes, and thought processes that lead him to his first drug. He tells his audience about how dangerous the use of drugs really is. He recalls picking up marijuana for the first time, the small choice he made that opened up the door for prescription painkiller and heroin abuse. It was that choice, the small, and at that time insignificant decision that changed his life forever. As Tony reaches the climax of his life experiences, audiences learn how that choice ultimately left him hopeless, homeless, and in a state of despair, while he suffered with substance-abuse addiction. With all the twist and turns in Tony’s life, he is able to leave his audience with a new sense of hope and empowerment. Tony speaks of overcoming, and how his new way of thinking and choice-making allowed him to become a professional athlete, Olympic coach at the Rio Olympic Games, and a successful business owner who is dedicated to bettering his community. This speech is great for substance-abuse talks and can be tailored for many different discussions.
In this keynote, Tony advocates strongly that communities must shift their thinking on addiction. He focuses on how we can all work together to improve addiction rates across the country. From his own personal experience as a successful young athlete, to losing everything from substance abuse, Tony describes the darkest moments of his life that was lead by addiction, and how surviving the storms inspired him to take action through his recovery. Tony details his recovery process, and highlights where it all started - in a prison cell. He also shares how his non-profit organization, and organization that utilizes action sports, is a staple in his sobriety. Audiences are left inspired as Tony maps out his life experiences with substance abuse, and individuals of all ages can see how his recovery took him from homeless in 2006, to the 2016 Olympic games. This keynote is ideal for community organizations, governments, and treatment facilities.
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