Mentorship through Team-Sports
Our Why
Studies have recently shown that Austin has the fastest growing poverty concentration out of the top 100 metro cities in the entire nation. 1 in 4 kids live below the poverty line, and under-resourced, Title I schools lack sufficient funding and support to provide extracurricular opportunities for their students. Children in these environments grow up without the same opportunities other kids have to participate in after-school sports programs.
SCORE Athletics was established when considering how to best serve this community. SCORE’s founders recognized that the vast majority of schools in East Austin were Title I, relying on government funding to meet educational goals. Kids attending these schools wouldn’t be able to participate in organized team sports, a facet of education that promotes invaluable skills like TEAMWORK, DETERMINATION, and LEADERSHIP. These specific qualities and skills aren’t just an integral part of team sports. They translate into every other area of life: the classroom, the workplace, and the community. These values can have a tremendous impact that resonates long after leaving the field.
This is what prompted the creation of SCORE Athletics, and more specifically, its registered 501(c)(3) non-profit status. We wished to provide a cost-free, structured, fun outlet for recreational sports, and we needed the financial backing to make it happen. We have always been driven by our desire to provide our kids with the same team sports opportunities that we had growing up, as well as with dozens of college-aged mentors who can consistently invest in the kids on and off the field. Today, SCORE Athletics operates at 6 elementary schools and serves over 100 children!
The Mission
Throughout their lives, our kids have been over-promised and under-served. Our vision for SCORE Athletics is to make an impact in our kids’ lives through team sports that transcends from the field to the future.
SCORE ATHLETICS:
1. Imposes Zero Financial Burden.
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, we fully provide Title I elementary schools in the Austin area with the resources, equipment, and infrastructure necessary to host an after-school, team-sports program. This includes sports equipment like goals, balls, jerseys, etc. and other items like bussing costs, food/water, and trophies. We strive to provide off-the-field opportunities as well, such as field trips to Austin Spurs games.
2. Promotes powerful mentorship relationships.
Our focus on mentorship describes the core of our program. Once a week for ten weeks, college-aged volunteers from the University of Texas at Austin travel to our partner schools to run drills, games, and scrimmages with the kids. During these sessions, our UT student coaches build relationships with the kids, as they play football, soccer, and basketball, some for the first time. A large number of our kids grow up without a stable home life and may face disappointment from those who promise so much, but deliver so little. SCORE wants to do its part by developing positive, mentor-based relationships between our coaches and our kids. By showing up every week and taking the time to build relationships, we want to make a lasting impact.
3. Believes these kids can be our next champions.
Whether it’s on a collegiate sports team, in the classroom, or in the workplace, our kids can be the next champions of their community. All they need is one person at the right time who will run the extra mile for them and invest in them. No matter the financial situation, SCORE Athletics firmly believes that providing a positive, team-sports environment with committed, outgoing volunteers is an incredible way to make an impact that has been borne out over time. We’re constantly inspired by the growth in relationships that we get to see year-in and year-out as mentors and kids sometimes remain in the program for years. That’s the kind of commitment that SCORE was founded to provide.