Longtime AAU Karate Volunteer Receives Prestigious Award

On January 26, 2019, Tony Butler Jr., longtime AAU karate member and current Adirondack AAU Karate Director, received the Capital Humanitarian Award.   This award was given out to celebrate fifty (50) Years of dedication, love & Commitment to the Albany area and youth sports.
 
“I can’t think of a more deserving individual than Shihan Butler to receive this award,” said Sensei JB Mirza, AAU Karate National Chair and AAU National Treasurer. “He exemplifies the qualities of leadership, dedication and service to the community that this award represents.”
 
Service to others through sport is what defines Tony Butler, Jr.   For more than five (5) decades, Butler has taught thousands of Albany-area youth integrity, discipline and a sense of self-worth through karate.
 
Countless hours have been spent at his dojo mentoring boys and girls, teaching them important life lessons.  Butler leads the Albany Council of Traditional Karate-Do Organization, a member club of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) for more than 18 years providing quality karate instruction to youth in the community. For more than 25 years, he has served as the Director of the Albany County Youth Karate program, a program with multiple sites throughout Albany County, New York.
 
“He has been front and center spreading the message to and encouraging all to empower ouryouth.” said Eric Keville, AC-TKO Albany, NY Coach. “Tony is recognized as one of the great mentors in his community and in the martial arts profession.”
 
Since 2015, Butler has overseen one of the largest after-school elementary enrichment programs in Albany County at the Albany Schools of the Humanities (ASH) in the city of Albany and is an integral part of the Fighting and Building Hope initiative, an anti-bullying program in the county.
 
The AAU celebrates the lasting impact Butler has had on his athletes, his sport, and his community.  
 
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