Issue Four- April 2021:

By Mercedes Barreto

Empowerment Through Sports is an organization that dedicates itself to the true empowerment of talented athletic individuals and their futures.

What are some new achievements or advancements you are proud to say have been accomplished by  Empowerment Through Sports this year? 2021 and previous years? In comparison?

“Feel free to review a podcast interview of the ETS Founder and his wife:

https://www.facebook.com/EmpowermentThroughSports/posts/3299037090116742

Empowerment Through Sports/ETS has had the awesome pleasure of witnessing more of our athlete’s graduate and go on to further their education in college. Also, despite COVID19 limiting our sports and recreational activities, we have remained diligent with “showing up” in the community by fulfilling the needs of young people and their families through our back-to-school drives (school preparedness) and our holiday toy drive (community enrichment). Additionally, ETS was honored by “Great Nonprofits” as a top-rated organization in the United States.

https://greatnonprofits.org/org/empowerment-through-sports 

Feel free to review our profile and explore ways you can contribute to our cause. ETS was also blessed with another great opportunity to host a shoe drive for children living in Phoenix, Arizona’s Sidney P Osborn Projects in partnership with the City of Phoenix’s social services organization to deter youth from violence through basketball. 

https://www.facebook.com/EmpowermentThroughSports/posts/3529055533781562

We feel great highlighting and showcasing the activities that we participate in to help build the children holistically. Here at Empowerment Through Sports, it is understood that sports and recreation activities can be experienced anywhere, but more importantly, we want to focus on the uplifting of our participants and their families in a more well-rounded approach.

Although we have been able to bridge gaps of need in the community, we are eager to get back to running, catching, tackling, scoring, shooting, and cheering.”

What do you feel that the children in these programs are most proud of, to be a part of such programs? To have this organization be an important part of their daily lives and an official escape?

“We truly feel that the children involved in our sports and community enrichment programs are provided with a sense of family, discipline, teamwork, and character. Pairing these attributes with determination we teach the children that anything is possible, no matter who you are and where you are from. It is our hope that these young folks that have participated in and are to participate in will take away a sense of value that will remain immortal; the value that we want the children to experience is Empowerment!”

How do not just the kids, but the parents and the community as a whole, get involved with this team effort? How can the nation be a part of doing so? Why should they?

“Parents are encouraged to get involved through volunteering their time and inquiring about duplicating our efforts in their respective communities. Our program is most effective when the children are able to receive reinforcement from their parents/guardians. ETS is only as strong as the community that it is embedded in and supported by.

It’s important that the local and national community identify with the needs of the particular chapter of Empowerment Through Sports and support those needs with the resource of financial backing and material needs fulfillment. We encourage you to feel free to connect with Empowerment Through Sports to explore ways that you can either become a donor or establish a chapter in your area as we are building our national identification.” 

Is there a statistic about how and why children should be active, and how does Empowerment Through Sports thrive in that mission? 

“The Center for Disease Control and Prevention/CDC suggests that, “Children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity each day, including daily aerobic – and activities that strengthen bones (like running or jumping) – 3 days each week, and that build muscles (like climbing or doing push-ups) – 3 days each week”. Our sports programs reflect activity levels that support the support of growth in a young person’s physical development. Empowerment Through Sports thrives in contributing to the physical, spiritual, and mental needs of the children and their families.

We are teaching the participants that you cannot attain the pinnacle of achievement in one without the others. Your spiritual and mental awareness and enrichment are equally important to our physical enrichment. This is why we teach the children to consistently work on their imagination and the power of their minds in pursuit of any accomplishment. As human beings, once we are able to achieve the ability to control our thought and the implementation of thoughts/perspective, we can then bless our communities with the power of positive thinking through our action of edifying our communities.” 

What are some words of prowess and kindness for families looking to find such programs in their community, who could really benefit from what Empowerment Through Sports has to offer them?

“Anyone looking for engagement for their children should be looking for a program with consistency and a knack for growth and development for the child and the family. Seek out organizations that care about the greater good of the community and promote and foster the furtherance of that good! Developing the future through our children is really a concentrated effort and we must all exhibit a concentrated effort in building our youth and our families. There are many children in the world that lack positive reinforcement in their family life and when positive reinforcement is absent it becomes the responsibility of the community to fill in that gap of need.

When we fail to do this we increase the odds of delinquency and empower the systems that exist to control the targeted demographic of those disenfranchised by their life circumstances.”