The resumption of some youth and school sports in early February was a massive relief for kids, parents, coaches and all involved. For some kids, it had been almost a year since they were allowed to practice or compete. However, too many are still cut off from play for reasons beyond Covid; where they live, family income, disabilities and more. Victory Sports is constantly trying to address that issue by giving away equipment so our community partners can deliver quality sports and recreation programs to more kids.

Some news to bring you in this edition:

• Following the distribution of 2600 Play Packs last year, we spoke with some of our community partners about the positive impact the items made.
• Our 2020 Annual Report is here. See the impact we made on thousands of children in WNY.
• We have expanded our board of directors with 4 new members:
  • Ezra Scott Jr (Niagara Falls Peacemakers)
  • Shy Spencer (Buffalo PD Neighborhood Engagement Team)
  • Darrell Glover (Lackawanna Sports Club)
  • Brian Floss (Accredo)
  • Read more about the valuable experience they bring to the organization.
• We are moving to a larger office/warehouse location in the Eastern Hills Mall in Williamsville that includes a store front, allowing us to make inventory available to buy for several hours a week. Read more details here.
• We summarized some really important recent research into the role of sports in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in youth.
• Life Storage joined our network of partners last year. Find out why and discover a special offer on storage and moving services just for readers!
• We worked with Joshua Israel Films to create a new promo video. Check it out!

Check out the bottom half of the newsletter for more details, pictures, and links to the articles on our website.

Winter is always a slightly quieter time for Victory Sports and Covid hasn’t exactly changed that. It has been an opportune time to push on with our strategic planning and board development process, including new members.

We are busy finalizing plans for another round of Play Packs and will be reinstalling our Ball-Bins in spring.

I hope you enjoy reading our Newsletter and the linked articles on our website. Thank you to all those who supported us in our year-end fundraising campaign and to the corporate partners who continued their support into 2021.

For anyone who believes in our work and is able to become a monthly or one-time donor, please consider becoming a supporter via this link or any of the Donate buttons in this Newsletter. Any amount makes a difference and we are incredibly grateful for your contribution to our mission.

If your business is interested in learning about the benefits of partnering with Victory Sports, we’d love to hear from you.

I look forward to seeing more of you in the coming months.

Best wishes,

Doug

Doug Rifenburg
Founder & Executive Director
Victory Sports Global Outreach, Inc.

We traveled WNY last year giving out 2600 Play Packs. Our community partners told us the items went down a treat and helped kids break a sweat and have some fun! Read more of the valuable feedback we received about the impact the packs had on the summer and holiday season of the kids who got one.

We’re delighted with the four new members on our Board of Directors. They bring valuable community experience to the table including police, local government, big-business and youth programming. Get to know Ezra, Shy, Brian and Darrell here!

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is a vital component of youth development. We have summarized a recently published research report that looks at the role of sports in SEL with a focus on gender and race based differences. Have a read of our article and the original report.

Life Storage have been supporting local organizations in communities where they operate for over 15 years. They provide all you could need for personal and business storage in 33 states, proudly headquartered here in Buffalo. Read more on why they partnered with us and snag yourself a special offer on their services by quoting Victory Sports. Thanks guys!