Lockeport native son wins NFL pitch competition

Lockeport native Shea Balish scored a touchdown in the third annual National Football League (NFL) 1st & Future pitch competition on Feb. 3, winning a cash prize of $50,000 US and Super Bowl tickets for his entry in the category of Technology to Improve Athletic Performance.

A graduate of Lockeport Regional High School, 31-year-old Balish is co-founder and CEO of Toronto-based Curv.ai, “an athlete development platform that leverages patent-pending computer vision and augmented reality to transform the camera on any mobile device into a versatile tool that Lockeport native Shea Balish won a unique competition that came with a unique prize. captures human motion, measures athletic abilities and evaluates injury risk.”

The 1st & Future pitch competi- tion is an event designed to stimulate new technologies that promote athletic performance and safety in sport. The nine finalists in the three categories: Technology to Improve Athletic Performance, Advancements in Protective Equipment and New Therapies to Speed Recovery, were announced in January. Curv.ai was the only Canadian company in the competition.

“It’s kind of an amazing thing. I’m really, really proud of him,” said dad Kent Balish of Lockeport. “He’s done extremely well coming from a small town. He’s always been a hard worker and good to people, yah I’m proud.”

The younger Balish has racked up an impressive list of degrees since his high school days including Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the field of study, Sports and Exercise from Dalhousie, and a Master’s of Kinesiology and Health Studies in the field of study, Developmental Sport Psychology. He is now a ban- ting fellow at the University of Toronto.

“He has become one of the top three experts in AI in Canada which is artificial intelligence,” said Balish. “He has been speaking all over North America in that field and seeking investors into his company. He’s had funding from San Diego, funding from Kansas City, he’s spoken to the Board of directors of RBC, he’s met with the owner of the Boston Red Sox for sponsorship and he has spoken by invitation to the top 30 billionaires in Canada, so he’s in the big leagues, the major leagues with one of the leading companies in the world on artificial intelligence and performance.

“He’s part of the new young generation who are entrepreneurs in the field of technology,” his dad said.