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About Us
Our Mission
Summit Sports League (SSL) is an inclusive non-profit organization focused on building a welcoming and socially rewarding atmosphere for all, no matter orientation, gender identity, or athleticism. Our mission is to grow and empower each other through recreational sports and social opportunities, bettering the greater Denver community in which we are a part of.
Meet our board of directors and division leaders
President: Dusty Jones
A Colorado native, Dusty (he/him/his) loves all things Colorado: being a type A personality, finding the best green chili and telling people he's a Colorado native. When he's not mixing cocktails or playing with his wild Corgis, you can find him on the dodgeball court, where he's been involved with multiple kickball and dodgeball leagues since 2009. "When I lit the closet on fire and kicked the doors out, my dodgeball team was a crucial set of people who accepted me for who I am." After running several small businesses, he feels right at home on the board of this exciting new 501c3.
Vice President: Eli Rutherford
Eli (he/him) has lived in Colorado since 2019 and has an extensive history of participating in various sports and sports leagues across the country, as well as community empowerment and improvement initiatives. As the founder of Summit’s Dodgeball programming and its first Commissioner, he’s excited about continuing Summit’s mission “to grow and empower each other…”.“My deepest and longest-lasting friendships in Denver started when I had an opportunity to plug in and give back to my community. I am honored to help Summit foster that active, social, and inclusive opportunity with my people.”In his “spare” time, Eli can be found restoring furniture, practicing yoga, camping, or hosting dinner parties between home renovation projects.
Secretary & Kickball League Commissioner: Andrew Walton
Andrew (he/him/his) moved to Denver in 2022 and dived right into Summit, playing both kickball and dodgeball. While he enjoys the competitive nature that comes with playing sports, he mostly enjoys the camaraderie that is fostered while playing, therefore he is committed to creating a welcoming and warm environment for all to enjoy. Outside of sports Andrew, aka Dr. Walton, is a professor at MSU Denver teaching the next generation of future teachers.
Treasurer: John Michael Watkins
John Michael Watkins (he/him/his) is a nonprofit accountant and a longtime supporter of community advocacy. Since starting his professional career with political organizing on LGBTQ campaigns, John Michael has remained dedicated to fostering inclusivity and creating welcoming spaces.
Director of Fundraising and She/They Dodgeball Leauge Co-Manager: Gaelen McCartney
Gaelen (they/them) moved to Denver in 2021 and immediately jumped into the LGBTQ+ sports scene. For work, they lead a LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group at a nationwide children’s charity. In this role, Gaelen takes pride in creating a space that fosters inclusion and belonging for their fellow coworkers. They have been playing dodgeball and other sports for 5+ years, and look forward to continue developing community, building relationships, and having fun!
Director of Community: Arturo Lomeli
A born entertainer, Arturo Lomeli (he/him/his) has brought smiles, laughter and performances to many of us over the years. He is excited to get our members out building community when we aren't playing sports in our leagues. You can usually find Arturo with a clack fan and a mic, performing at a local karaoke pub. He enjoys all of the arts and entertainment our region has to offer and if you ask nicely, he'll probably have an extra seat around or near him.
Director of Marketing: Justin Wutzke
Justin Wutzke (he/him/his) is the Owner/Creative Director of WutzPossible—a remote creative services company. He moved to Denver at the end of 2018 and joined dodgeball back in 2021 as we were coming out of the pandemic. When Justin isn't involved in building community through Summit or his leadership roles in Junior Chamber International, he's spending time with friends and his French Bulldog, Gary, out and about in the Rockies.
Dodgeball League Commissioner: Sloan Bishop
Sloan (he/him) grew up in Louisiana and graduated from LSU before he moved to Denver in 2019. He started playing dodgeball and fell in love with the sport and community that he has been a part of for the past 5 years. Outside of dodgeball you can find him enjoying the good weather, playing board games, exploring the local LGBTQ+ scene, or watching reality tv.
Bouldering League Commissioner: Brian Troutner
Troutner (he/him/his) is an aerospace engineer by day, activity enthusiast by night. He began his climbing journey in 2010 and fell in love with iconic destinations such as Joshua Tree, Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite) and Red Rocks (Vegas, not Colorado). While leading trad is his jam (pun intended), creating communities and helping others find where they belong is his passion. Off the walls, you'll find him as the owner of Mile High Shootout LLC—running nationally attended, biannual dodgeball tournaments. He's stoked to get our climbing league off the ground (lol)!
She/They Dodgeball Co-Manager: Kristen Schuster
Kristen (she/her/hers) lives by the mission of being the person you needed when you were younger. She joined us in 2022 and immediately took on leadership roles by reffing and bringing more people into the summit leagues. She and Gaelen have worked hard together to develop the She/They Dodgeball league and are super proud to see it get it's own time slot and new night! She hails from Pueblo, CO, but grew up in Aurora, CO all of her life. She got engaged to her partner Alexandria back in March of '23 and recently moved in with her and their wonderfully blended family of dogs... Chloe, Leo and Kitsune. She loves to read and write in her free time when she's not playing recreational sports.
Foam Dodgeball Manager: Dan Dean
Dan (he/him/his) grew up in rural Oklahoma and have always been into team sports (basketball/volleyball) and outdoor activities like camping, fishing, skydiving (it’s cheap out there) and riding four wheelers. Life took a turn for the better when he landed an internship in San Francisco at 22 years old. After an intense 10-month internship there he caught the travel bug and spent the next four months hitchhiking and backpacking around Europe and the western United States. Once back in San Francisco I made a work friend who introduced me to dodgeball and nothing has been the same since. He loves dodgeball because it allows him to combine his loves of competitive sports with national and international travel. After competing in several Foam dodgeball tournaments this past year two things became glaringly obvious:
1) Foam is by far his favorite ball type
2) Denver needs to step it up and offer more consistent variety to its dodgeballers than just no sting.
