Four years ago, I founded a nonprofit called Leveling the Playing Field, whose mission is to improve the opportunity for low-income families to get involved in youth sports through the donation of used/excess sporting equipment.
After spending three seasons as an equipment manager with the Syracuse University football program, I was bothered by the volume of equipment given to athletic programs for free, and in turn the waste of sporting equipment, not just on the college level, but on the recreation level as well. Aware of the decline in youth sports and the role equipment costs play in that trend, I decided to pursue a career based around reversing this trend.
Every day, I communicate with various sources of donated sporting equipment from collegiate athletic departments, youth sports leagues, and families. I continuously work within the community to expose our equipment program within undeserved communities to drive demand for donations. Every week we donate thousands of dollars worth of equipment to Title I Schools, Recreation Centers, youth/after-school programs, and neighborhood sports teams. Through funding from local foundations, and businesses, including the Washington Nationals, USTA, US Soccer Foundation and numerous other sports organizations, we will have donated more than $1 million worth of product by the end of 2015.
In four years, we have gone from operating out of my parents’ basement, to a vacant dance studio, to now outgrowing our 4,000-square-foot warehouse. Currently a nonprofit in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area, we are expecting to begin opening multiple locations across the country by the end of 2016.
My experience in the Sport Management Department taught me the value of networking. As a result, I have been able to build a strong network which has helped Leveling the Playing Field continue to grow at this pace. It will no doubt be that continuously growing network that will allow us to become a nationwide organization that we hope will shake up the manufacturing and youth sports industries.