George Koontz sits behind a hefty wooden desk in an office off Holtzclaw Avenue. The middle aged man with white hair and goatee practices mostly health care law at Kennedy, Koontz & Farinash, a practice he co-founded. The curtains are heavy, the room is filled with multiple book cases and the walls are dressed with diplomas. His office is incredibly organized, complete with a yellow legal pad open to an empty page, ready to take notes.
This office is his Daily Planet. But, his alter ego, maybe the one he is most known for, is being the founder and general manager of the Chattanooga Cyclones Baseball Program.
Koontz founded the program in 1993 to assist the area’s young and dedicated baseball players in developing their skills and to expose them to college coaches as well as professional scouts. And since then he has spent countless hours on less-than-manicured infields in thousands of baseball parks. “About that time, select baseball was in its infancy in Chattanooga, and some organizations began to pop up,” says Koontz.
“It is unusual if anyone on our 18-year-old team does not have a career in baseball. 95 percent or more of our older boys continue their baseball careers in college.”– George Koontz
“I was asked to help with one, but later decided to do my own thing.” He adds with a smile, “And it has kind of grown since.”