National Football Foundation

Midwest Region
 
Benefiting from playing football for 14 years growing up, including as a Division I college player at Navy, Ken Leach believes the game serves as a powerful vehicle for teaching life lessons and creating career opportunities for those who compete on the gridiron.
 
"Football provides a terrific learning ground for life," said Leach, who currently serves as president of the NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter. "I love chess and I love the game of football. I have drawn numerous similarities [with each chess piece mirroring a different position on the gridiron]. The chess player is like the coach, strategically plotting and orchestrating the effectiveness of each piece."
 
Behind Leach's leadership, the Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter has remained a driving force throughout the St. Louis football community, bringing together leaders involved at the youth, high school, college and professional levels to support the game from a 150-mile radius. Founded in 1992, the chapter impacts thousands of high school, middle school and grade school students with a myriad of programs that successfully carry out the mission of the National Football Foundation.
 
Each year, the outpost honors the top 11 area football players, presenting each with a $1,500 scholarship and recognizing them at the chapter’s annual awards banquet in May. The chapter holds a monthly luncheon at Lombardo's airport restaurant, organized by former Chapter President Bob Bunton, featuring high-profile speakers such as 2022 College Football Hall of Fame electee Coach Gary Pinkel, current Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz and former Kansas State head coach and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Bill Snyder who participated via Zoom during COVID. To raise money for its scholarships, the chapter also holds an annual golf tournament. "It's a team effort", said Leach.
 
The chapter is named for St. Louis native Tom Lombardo who captained Coach Earl Blaik's 1944 Army team that compiled a perfect undefeated season. Lieutenant Lombardo was killed in action while leading his troops in battle during the Korean War.
 
A graduate from Indiana State and the United States Naval Academy, Leach played wide receiver at Annapolis for Hall of Fame Coach George Welsh. After his military service, Leach became a sales and marketing representative for several businesses, most recently as the Midwest Regional Sales Director at the Compass Group, which provides food service and maintenance solutions for educational institutions. He recently retired and he currently serves as the vice chairman on the board of Neighbor's Credit Union.
 
When not playing his 12-string guitar or chess, Leach is involved with a myriad of community activities, including interviewing potential candidates for the Naval Academy for more than 20 years as a volunteer Blue and Gold Officer. He founded the non-profit Oakville Junior Tigers Football League, where he has coached middle school football feeder programs for 11 years.
 
Leach has served as the executive director of the Amateur Football Council and on the Mehlville Board of Education. In 2019, he was inducted into the Mehlville School District Alumni Hall of Fame for making a lasting impact on the community and serving as role model for current and future generations.
 
Married to his wife Diana for 28 years, Leach and his wife have a son Trevor and daughter Sabreena.