The Facts:
- Children face barriers to participate in sports including, fees, equipment, and opportunities.
- Guilford County has identified 83 Title I public schools and Forsyth County has identified 51 Title 1 public schools for the 2023-2024 school year. At least 57.2% of the families in each of these schools are identified as low income with some schools at a much higher rate.
- 62% of children in our school system are low income.
- Children are affected in silent ways that diminish their quality of life and opportunities.
- School sports and programing are on the decline due to limited budgets and support by the school system and the increased cost of gear needed to outfit a team.
- Students not involved in extracurricular activities are 57% more likely to drop out and 27% more likely to use drugs or get arrested.
- Only 5% of youth ages 5-18 reported meeting the federally recommended amount of exercise of 60 minutes per day.
- 70% of youth stop playing sports by 13 years old (girls are twice as likely than boys to drop out of youth sports by the age of 14).
- Household wealth is a primary driver of kids athletic participation. Compared to their peers whose families make more than $100,000, youth ages 6-12 whose family income is under $25,000 are nearly three times as likely to be inactive.
- The # of children participating in youth sports continues to drop. While 45% of youngsters 6 to 12 regularly played team or individual sports in 2008, that number had fallen to 38% by 2018, according to a study by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association.
The Need:
Participation in school-based athletics has many short and long term benefits for student-athletes. Unfortunately, not all students have access to play and not all schools have adequate equipment and apparel. The reality is black and brown schools and communities are undeniably impacted more than affluent white schools and communities, and are likely to experience longer term health disparities due to the lack of adequate access to resources such as health care, food, and even athletics.
Mission:
To help bring opportunities and resources to youth and schools to get more kids involved in sports by eliminating the financial barriers of sports by providing equipment, play opportunities, resources for coaches and mentors. We believe that connecting kids into sports at a younger age connects them in with a social and physical activity that provides life skills that can carry them through adolescence and BEYOND.
How we meet our mission:
Identify gaps and work with leading organizations to fill them so every child in Guilford and Forsyth County can access sports, regardless of zip code or ability. To connect and service children through sports. To provide mentorship, resources, and opportunities to children in our community in these three core areas: Equipment, Clinics & Mentoring, & Resources.
Why we do this:
- Playing sport helps children learn to control their emotions and channel negative feelings in a positive way.
- Sports help develop patience and understand that it can take a lot of practice to improve both their physical skills and what they do in school.
- Participating in a sports program gets children more active and healthier! The activity helps reduce the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
- Through sports children gains various skills, experience and confidence that are helpful for developing their personality
- Sports teach vital time management skills
- Sports offer children a range of appealing challenges. Healthy opportunities to learn skills, take risks, and achieve goals.
- Sports plays an important role in educating students as it teaches them to become strong from inside and also develop a fit and sound body.
- Combining sports in education can help students to develop a self-motivating spirit to do things on their own and having ownership of these.
Who we are:
MICHEALA AMIDON
Co-Founder
I’ve worked around sports my whole life. I’ve seen the benefits it brings to adolescents that transcends sports. The community and friendships it brings, the challenges that athletes learn to tackle and the confidence it instills. As a former athlete, coach and parent I am passionate about sharing my love of all sports with kids.
MIKE KENNEDY
Co-Founder
Nelson Mandela once stated that “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand.” As a lifelong participant and coach, I have seen first hand the power of sports and the impact it can have. Our passion is to provide opportunities for all children, through sports, to grow, learn and dream. Read Full Bio
Meet Our Advisory Board:
Rev Odell Cleveland
Chief Administrative Officer Of Mt Zion Baptist Church of Greensboro.
Reggie Dillard
Owner of Dillard Elite Training & President of Lady Gators Basketball
Jill Jones
A professional executive with over thirty years of experience in a variety of organizations and roles.
Sari Rose
Jeremy Wright
Marketing, External Affairs and Operations/ Administration of NC A & T University