You can now shop for your projects from a wide range of sports gear, equipment and apparel at DICK'S Sporting Goods! DICK'S carries supplies for a wide range of sports, including baseball, basketball, football, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball, rugby, and many more.This is great news for school sports teams! Last year, the DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation launched Sports Matter, an initiative to raise awareness and address the growing issue of underfunded youth athletics nationwide. Continuing their efforts this year, they've teamed up with DonorsChoose.org to help underfunded public schools by sponsoring a Double Your Impact offer for team sports projects. This match offer even extends beyond team equipment and covers a variety of team sports related costs, such as transportation, lodging, and registration fees. For this opportunity, teachers can even post projects on behalf of coaches at their school.Here are a few examples of projects that have already benefitted from Sports Matter this school year:
- At Holmes-Middle School in Detroit, MI, there are no options for girls to play team sports. Ms. Shaw's project, "Lady Eagles Soar" sought to change this situation and start a basketball team for girls in her school.
- Mr. Mena coaches a middle school wrestling team in El Portal, FL and requested wrestling shoes for his student athletes because they did not have enough shoes for each competitor last year. Last season, 20 students quit the team because they couldn't afford the shoes. This year, his project, "Lace Up The Trojan's Wrestling Squad", helped equip his team with over a dozen pairs of shoes!
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="650"]
Mr. Mena and his wrestling team.[/caption]
