Lance Dotzman: The Drive to be Good
April 28, 2019
The D10 Athlete Profile explores what brings competitors to The D10 playing field...and what they bring away from it.
Lance Dotzman
Senior Associate, PwC
The D10 NYC
Fundraising goal: $100K (!!!)
2019 Marquee event: 400M
You go back a long way with Team 100K FTK’s captain—your good friend, Eric Vishnevetsky.
Vish was less than a five minute walk from my house, and as a kid we were always playing sports. Vish now is completely different than Vish then, but he’s always been that leader in our friend group…the guy who gets everyone to do the same thing.
The fundraising goal of $100,000…it's never been done before at The D10. How do you decide to go for it like that?
When Vish told me about his goal for 2019, it was before I had joined the team. My eyes lit up. It’s a crazy number! Honestly I was scared, because failure is never fun. To get there, you have to know a lot of people. With what’s already been raised, we have a proof of concept. We’re doing things to make the needle move even more.
What’s the strategy for the athletic side of the competition?
I know Vish was determined to put together a complete team, because no one’s going to be good at all ten events. He and Bucky are strong. Brian and I will focus more on the running. All of us have that drive to be good. We’re holding each other accountable every morning.
You won some serious laurels playing soccer at Muhlenberg College—Centennial Conference player of the year, All-American, Academic All-American….Then after college, you won a gold medal at the Maccabi Games in Israel. How would you describe your game?
I was that quick little center-mid. You play it over the top, I’d run the ball down. Training for The D10 has gotten me more in touch with running lately, which has gotten me more involved in soccer again.
What does The D10’s charitable mission mean to you personally?
My Mom works for a nonprofit that helps kids with mental and physical disabilities and autism, whihch has always been close to my heart. I look at my Mom as a role model. She loves giving, and she doesn't expect anything in return.
At the Memorial Sloan Kettering pediatrics reception, I felt a whole bunch of emotions. I really enjoyed spending time with the kids—seeing their contagious smiles, having fun, and forgetting about the things going on around us for a while. It reminded me that sometimes we all take things for granted, me included, and it shouldn't take seeing this awful disease to realize that.
Help Lance and his teammates achieve the unthinkable and become the first D10 team to raise $100,000 in one year for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Donate to Lance's fundraising campaign here. Every dollar donated goes directly to Memorial Sloan Kettering.