TEAM AND PLAYER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
SCHOOL TEAMS
Health experts, teachers, business leaders and parents agree about the numerous benefits that sports offer for children and their communities. Sports help build character and increase confidence, self esteem and physical fitness. Team sports -like softball- can also help children build friendships and learn how to work together, communicate effectively and put team goals before individual wants. However, funding for youth sports in schools across the nation is being cut- often drastically. In response, a majority of school districts are either cutting sports or adopting pay to play programs which often prevent students from lower- and middle-class families from signing up. Furthermore, in some schools, women's sports receive less financial support than male sports.
We do not believe that any student should be unable to participate in sports because they can not pay for them or because their school can not fund them. That is why we try to assist as many of these teams and players as we can on a case by case basis.
Things we can do include:
1. Bringing our equipment bins to your school so players in need can pick out their own bat, glove, cleats, helmets,
facemasks, etc.
2. Providing gently used or new team equipment such as catching equipment, tees, balls, etc.
3. Providing gently used or new black uniform pants for teams that can not afford uniforms. We can also assist a limited
number of teams with new uniform items such as socks and belts.
4. Providing a limited number of teams with field equipment such as liner, bases, pitching strips, etc.
5. Assisting with pay-to-play fees (through donation to school/booster club and in accordance with OHSAA rules and
guidance)
6. Hosting a free clinic for your team, a combined clinic for multiple teams in your area, or providing pitching assistance
through our pitching program.
The number of teams we can assist each spring depends upon the success of our fundraising events over the previous year. Therefore, we may not be able to accommodate all requests. Teams knowing they will need assistance should CONTACT US AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE before the softball season.
Health experts, teachers, business leaders and parents agree about the numerous benefits that sports offer for children and their communities. Sports help build character and increase confidence, self esteem and physical fitness. Team sports -like softball- can also help children build friendships and learn how to work together, communicate effectively and put team goals before individual wants. However, funding for youth sports in schools across the nation is being cut- often drastically. In response, a majority of school districts are either cutting sports or adopting pay to play programs which often prevent students from lower- and middle-class families from signing up. Furthermore, in some schools, women's sports receive less financial support than male sports.
We do not believe that any student should be unable to participate in sports because they can not pay for them or because their school can not fund them. That is why we try to assist as many of these teams and players as we can on a case by case basis.
Things we can do include:
1. Bringing our equipment bins to your school so players in need can pick out their own bat, glove, cleats, helmets,
facemasks, etc.
2. Providing gently used or new team equipment such as catching equipment, tees, balls, etc.
3. Providing gently used or new black uniform pants for teams that can not afford uniforms. We can also assist a limited
number of teams with new uniform items such as socks and belts.
4. Providing a limited number of teams with field equipment such as liner, bases, pitching strips, etc.
5. Assisting with pay-to-play fees (through donation to school/booster club and in accordance with OHSAA rules and
guidance)
6. Hosting a free clinic for your team, a combined clinic for multiple teams in your area, or providing pitching assistance
through our pitching program.
The number of teams we can assist each spring depends upon the success of our fundraising events over the previous year. Therefore, we may not be able to accommodate all requests. Teams knowing they will need assistance should CONTACT US AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE before the softball season.
Player Assistance
Stay in Softball started with the founder of Stay in Softball donating her new Demarini CF7 bat to another player whose mother had cancer so it could be raffled off to help raise money for the family. It has grown tremendously since then. Even though Stay in Softball has grown to include many ways of helping players, we still place a high priority on helping individual players who are experiencing personal or family emergencies that might keep them from playing softball.
We try to assist as many players as we can on a case by case basis in whatever way possible (while also being mindful of high school and NCAA eligibility rules for high school aged players). We accept requests from coaches and confirm a need before we offer assistance. We will not make assistance to individuals unless the recipient approves or asks for publicity for their cause. Examples of some of the players we have helped:
* We provided assistance to Heaven Harris, a player who lost her arm in an ATV accident. Heaven needed assistance getting back into softball and learning how to play with one arm. Heaven spent countless hours with a coach who is also an amputee and is back on the field playing.
* We provided assistance and support to a fundraiser for a Whitmer HS player who underwent multiple brain
surgeries due to hydrocephalus. Like Heaven, Amanda battled back and was a standout player for both her travel and HS team.
* We provided assistance to players from the Coventry Fury, Ohio Outlaws and Silver Creek Prospects whose mothers were battling cancer.
* We provided assistance to a Lady Lookout player whose father passed away.
* We provided assistance with playing fees to a player whose father was severely burned in an accident and out of work for an extended period of time.
* We provided equipment and uniform assistance to Cordelia Deleon, Kingwood Girls Softball Association who lost six family members in Hurricane Harvey.
* We provided equipment to the Northwoods Park School in Jacksonville, NC to replace equipment lost in Hurricane Florence.
* We assisted a player battling Leukemia.
* We assisted several Ohio players whose families were experiencing hardships including a house fire, the loss of a job and serious illnesses.
* We provided uniform items, Stay in Softball t shirts and other items to the Konawa Junior High School softball team after the team was involved in a bus accident in which one of its team members was killed.
* We provided equipment, t shirts and other support to the American Legion, Lady Ambassadors and Diamond Divas fast pitch teams in Okinawa, Japan. These teams are for daughters of American service people stationed in Japan.
We try to assist as many players as we can on a case by case basis in whatever way possible (while also being mindful of high school and NCAA eligibility rules for high school aged players). We accept requests from coaches and confirm a need before we offer assistance. We will not make assistance to individuals unless the recipient approves or asks for publicity for their cause. Examples of some of the players we have helped:
* We provided assistance to Heaven Harris, a player who lost her arm in an ATV accident. Heaven needed assistance getting back into softball and learning how to play with one arm. Heaven spent countless hours with a coach who is also an amputee and is back on the field playing.
* We provided assistance and support to a fundraiser for a Whitmer HS player who underwent multiple brain
surgeries due to hydrocephalus. Like Heaven, Amanda battled back and was a standout player for both her travel and HS team.
* We provided assistance to players from the Coventry Fury, Ohio Outlaws and Silver Creek Prospects whose mothers were battling cancer.
* We provided assistance to a Lady Lookout player whose father passed away.
* We provided assistance with playing fees to a player whose father was severely burned in an accident and out of work for an extended period of time.
* We provided equipment and uniform assistance to Cordelia Deleon, Kingwood Girls Softball Association who lost six family members in Hurricane Harvey.
* We provided equipment to the Northwoods Park School in Jacksonville, NC to replace equipment lost in Hurricane Florence.
* We assisted a player battling Leukemia.
* We assisted several Ohio players whose families were experiencing hardships including a house fire, the loss of a job and serious illnesses.
* We provided uniform items, Stay in Softball t shirts and other items to the Konawa Junior High School softball team after the team was involved in a bus accident in which one of its team members was killed.
* We provided equipment, t shirts and other support to the American Legion, Lady Ambassadors and Diamond Divas fast pitch teams in Okinawa, Japan. These teams are for daughters of American service people stationed in Japan.
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