Community

How We’re Giving Back to Youth Sports Organizers This Year

profile
By Melissa Wickes
September 22, 2021
3 min

It’s been great to provide our partners—local and youth sports organizers—with some networking and well-deserved fun after what has been a difficult 19 months. Here’s a recap of the pro game experiences we’ve hosted so far and the partners we’ve connected with along the way. 

The Chicago Cubs Game

At a Chicago Cubs game, we were joined by a handful of awesome partners, which made for a fun and memorable evening. We were delighted to be joined by Lavonte Stewart and Lee Smith of Lost Boyz Inc.—one of our FundPlay grant recipients. LostBoyz provides socialization and character development to at-risk youth in Chicago through sports. 

Nick Mulvaney, Founder and CEO of Chicago City Soccer Club, joined, as well. Here he is power-posing in front of the field. Could this pose be the reason the Cubs won? 

The Los Angeles Dodgers Game

We made the absolute most of the Dodgers game by getting some critical insight from our partners about how LeagueApps is helping their organizations thrive. Mark Yosowitz, LeagueApps Vice President, Corporate & Business Affairs, spoke with some of our partners in between innings. 

Christian Cammayo, Director of Volleyball Operations and Head Coach at Beach Cities Volleyball, told Mark what’s coming up for his organization and how LeagueApps has helped them get through a difficult year. 

“It’s looking like we’re going to be bigger than we’ve ever been next year,” says Cammayo. “LeagueApps was integral to our survival in the sense that we needed something different last year to get through the pandemic.”

Watch the interview:

Next, Gina Braget and Greg Miller—Player Agent and President of Ojai Valley Baseball, respectively—enthusiastically spoke about how they were able to succeed and grow despite the pandemic, as well as the part LeagueApps played in that.

“It’s amazing, our numbers are skyrocketing, our participation is incredible,” says Braget. “We are so happy with the LeagueApps team and all they’ve done for us along the way.”

You can watch the rest of our partner interviews from the Los Angeles Dodgers game below:

Blake George, Director of Coaching & Operations at Steel United California:

Donella Madrid of BATRS, and her son Jacob who has been an athlete with BATRS for two and a half years.

Jamin Dunneback, Co-owner and League Director, Marketing & Advertising at Volutide Sports:

The DC United Game

The DC United vs. Chicago Fire game was our most recent opportunity to have some fun and connect with our partners on Wednesday, September 15th. Look at the awesome setup we had!

We co-hosted this event with our partners at Maryland Soccerplex. Our General Manager of Soccer, Craig McGinn, was able to sit down with their Executive Director, Matt Libber, to discuss the current state of his organization, some exciting upcoming events, and why Maryland Soccerplex chose to work with LeagueApps.

“When we looked at all the different software packages out there, this was a product that was simple for our customers to use, simple for our staff to use. It gave us all the different elements we were looking for—from league registrations, to camps, to scheduling,” says Libber. “So, it was the perfect platform for us to use.”

Getting to host events like this with our partners, despite the last year and a half we have all had, is what makes LeagueApps who we are. No matter what challenges we face as a youth sports community, we will always support our partners and ensure they have access to the technology, community, and network they need to make sports accessible to all kids everywhere. One of the ways we make this possible for so many kids is by granting software and equipment donations to sports-based youth development organizations through our FundPlay initiative.

You can nominate a sports organization to receive a FundPlay grant from LeagueApps on our FundPlay page.