Neverland Paradox
A call for people of all ages to embrace the essential need for imaginary and interactive play, recess, and community.
It's time to be a little kid in this industrialized, computer-automated, goal-oriented, and deterministic-driven society.
Meet Baby Alan
I am a 5-year-old (decennial) preschooler at Fullerton College, in my second year of studies of Law, Public Policy, and Society. My goal is to become Baby Alan, Esq., and practice tenant, environmental, and indigent defense. I have been married for thirty years to a friend who is also beautiful, caring, and supportive, empowering me to be a State Representative, an Entrepreneur, and a Little Boy.
Discovering authenticity has been the most insightful event of my very young life. It has allowed me to admit that we are all wearing Paw Patrol underwear beneath our neckties and public game faces.
Fall 2025 Scheduled Performances
Reclaim Your Recess
In a world where work, political, social, and academic demands force us to trade our sandboxes for spreadsheets, have we forgotten how to play?
Baby Alan's signature After Dinner Speech (ADS), "The Neverland Paradox," is a hilarious, shocking, and surprisingly profound exploration of our modern "war on play." More than just a Speech to Entertain (STE), Baby Alan's unique persona is an invitation to a playdate where you'll discover the power of catching imaginary butterflies to tossing invisible baseballs to the Moon. Audience members learn why our desperate attempt to be "serious grown-ups" actually created a generation of Peter Pans — adults who never learn the vital resilience that comes from recess.
Prepare for an academic and humor-filled journey that reveals why we're all just wearing Little Boys' Paw Patrol Underwear beneath our neckties and trousers while putting on a public game face. It's time to embrace authenticity, schedule recess and embrace unstructured playtime to build better resilience in our life.
Schedule your Playdate, today!
2025 PSCFA Warm-Up
El Camino College - Sep 28, 2025
10:00am & 12:30pm
2025 Crossman Invitational
El Camino College - Oct 12, 2025
9:15am & 12:30pm
* 3:45pm (Finals)
2025 PSCFA Fall Championships
Mt San Antonio College - Dec 7, 2025
9:00am & 12:00pm
* 3:30pm (Finals)
2026 PSCFA Spring Championships
Moorpark College - Feb 22, 2026
9:00am & 12:00pm
* 3:30pm (Finals)
PSCFA All-Conference Academic Team
2026 WSCA Tournament
San Diego State University - Feb 27, 2026
2:00pm & 5:00pm
San Diego State University - Feb 28, 2026
8:30am & 11:45am
* 6:00pm (Finals)
Private Engagement
Private Event
2026 PSCFA Cool-Off
Location TBD - April 26, 2026
Times - Coming Soon
Blummer Invitational
California State University, Fullerton - May 2, 2026
Times - Coming Soon
My Accolades
State Representative
California DHCS MCHAP
VP of Communications
Alpha Gamma Sigma
Student Senator
Associated Students
Exploration of Play
Play, Learn, and Imagination
Playposium
A gathering of people from across the world like no other, where playful and prosocial education comes alive, not just in theory but in practice.
Personality
As we mature, we develop a style or mode in which we are most comfortable being playful. Dr. Brown calls these styles of playfulness, “play personalities.”
InnoPlay
With play we create spaces to think, create, and level-up skills and understanding of learning and innovation while simultaneously fostering prosocial connection.
My Reading List
(Sources)
“Adult Play.” National Institute for Play, nifplay.org/play-note/adult-play.
Brown, Stuart L., and Christopher Vaughan. Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. Avery, 2009.
Candiracci, Sara, et al. Playful Cities Design Guide: Play for Anyone, Anywhere. Arup, 2023, www.arup.com/globalassets/downloads/insights/playful-cities-design-guide-play-for-anyone-anywhere.pdf.
“City Parks Alliance.” City Parks Alliance, cityparksalliance.org/about-us/why-city-parks-matter/.
“The Global Mental Health Crisis: 10 Numbers to Note.” Project HOPE, 2023, www.projecthope.org/news-stories/story/the-global-mental-health-crisis-10-numbers-to-note.
Gray, Peter. “The Decline of Play and the Rise of Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents.” American Journal of Play, vol. 3, no. 4, 2011, pp. 443-63.
---. “What Exactly Is Play, and Why Is It Such a Powerful Vehicle for Learning?” Topics in Language Disorders, vol. 37, no. 3, 2017, pp. 217-28.
“How To Find Your Own Third Place.” The Good Trade, www.thegoodtrade.com/features/third-place-community-spaces.
Kiley, Dan. The Peter Pan Syndrome: Men Who Have Never Grown Up. Dodd, Mead, 1983.
McCarthy, Dan. “Demystifying Advocacy in Parks and Recreation.” Parks & Recreation Magazine, National Recreation and Park Association, May 2021, www.nrpa.org/parks-recreation-magazine/2021/may/demystifying-advocacy-in-parks-and-recreation/.
“Mental Health at Work.” World Health Organization, 2025, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-at-work.
Pasricha, Sameer, et al. "Association of Smartphone Use on the Toilet and Hemorrhoids: A Case-Control Study." PLoS One, vol. 19, no. 1, 2024, e0296936.
“Third Places as Community Builders.” Brookings Institution, 14 Sept. 2016, www.brookings.edu/articles/third-places-as-community-builders/.
“Transforming City Streets to Promote Physical Activity and Health Equity.” Health Affairs, vol. 38, no. 9, 2019, pp. 1475-83, doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00454.
Watershed. "Playable City." Watershed, 2024, www.watershed.co.uk/projects/playable-city.
Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Routledge, 2001.
Whitebread, David, et al. "The Importance of Play." Toy Industries of Europe, Apr. 2012
