Frank Walsh started playing adult league basketball games in 1985.
Thirty years later, he has won an unprecedented 113 championship trophies while playing for different teams and leagues.
The Miami Lakes resident and former programmer for Power 96 and Y-100 radio stations won his latest accolade last week when his B League team called Frank’s Nesquik Lakers defeated their opponent with a 87-58 win to claim his 113th title.
The team is part of the Miami Lakes Summer League organized by Andre Daniel, who started MiamiBasketball.net.
Two weeks ago, Miami Lakes Vice Mayor Manny Cid’s team, the Miami Lakers, won the C League championship.
For Walsh, the ambiance after winning the championship is always exciting no matter how many times he has won it.
“The guys are happy and they definitely share the excitement with me in winning this,” he said. “I don’t think anywhere in South Florida has a player in adult basketball league won this many trophies.”
Walsh said he has two advantages for winning so many championships.
“Longevity because I have been doing this for 30 years and with great teammates,” he said.
Besides the league in Miami Lakes, Walsh also plays in other leagues in the Brickell area, South Miami-Dade and Broward County.
One of the those teams is Frank’s Body Armor in the A League, and Walsh is seeking his 114th championship this week, but he said it will be a challenge because some of the players are from overseas.
One of his teammates is a local firefighter who was the bodyguard for Anna Nicole Smith, and the son of his teammate who played with for years.
“I played with Jerry Terry for 10 years and now his son, Terrell, is my teammate,” Walsh said. “I played with his father most of the my adult league career and now I’m playing with his son.”
Walsh said he named his teams after his sponsors because they help him raise money for charity.
He said Body Armor and Pretzel Crisps provide him products to give away to high school schools, culminating in his annual Basketball Jam event, which he founded in 1985.
Walsh said he uses his connection to radio for basketball charity events for high school students.
“It’s something I do to raise money for these schools,” he said. “And the kids get to watch a great basketball game.”
A trophy case hasn’t been designed to hold Walsh’s 113 championship trophies, so he spread them around his two-story house.
“They are all over the place,” he said.