Play It 4Ward
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>View discussions about this entry Country: United States
Organization: Play it 4ward
Sport - Basketball
Year the initative began (yyyy) - 2007
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence? - To combine sports, education and entertainment and provide a program to encourage and uplift youth in underprivileged areas
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field? - By combining sports, education and entertainment, youth will be educated on how to use the sport of basketball as a tool to get them into college. Speakers and college recruiter will be ask to visit our clinics and website in order to provide an opportunity to basketball athletics to connect with college personnel that can give them information on college scouting and scholarship opportunities. We will also ask motivational speakers to come out and speak. Secondly, we will provide an opportunity for basketball players to come together in the city through tournaments and forge friendships and connection among each other. Last, we will provide a fun component to this idea and host a website that will play 30 second hooper bloopers that are submit from basketball players, their schools, their families, and/or coaches. Each submitter will have an opportunity to win prizes such as gift cards, savings bonds and money. Only positive, non-explicit enters will be displayed on website.
What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change? - Indiana experienced an increase in violence among underprivileged youth in 2006 and 2007; this innovative idea will help use basketball to bring unity through networking on and off the court; education by providing resources for scholarship in basketball to colleges; and opportunity to have fun and show basketball skills thus giving youth a positive outlet. An existing barrier is getting the word out about our program. Thus stems from our biggest problem, the lack of funding.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing? - We will implement our innovation by partnering with like-minded organization in order to get the word out about our idea. We will talk to school counselors and coaches in order to get the connection for basketball players to colleges and scholarships and we will have a website develop that will serve as a tool to promote this innovative idea and feature the hooper bloopers to provided positive entertainment. Players will also be able feature their bios and statistics on the website in our to attract potential college coaches and scholarships. We will go into the school system and youth organization to find youth that can benefits from our idea.
How do you plan to grow your innovation? - As we proceed in getting our 501( c) 3, additional funding opportunities will come so that we are able to continue to grow our innovative idea. In the interim, we will continue to seek support from the community and individuals who are willing to partner, sponsor or support our efforts with services and funding. We will also develop a webpage, facebook and myspace in order to use the internet to help generate interest and exposure to the idea.
In addition, we will enlist additional youth to act as advocates and volunteers for this idea. They will also help through meetings to develop and implement new ideas that will help grow this innovation and recognition to this innovation. Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. - We will provide youth an avenue to learn how to use their basketball skills to take them to another level in sports and education
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries? - To date, with a opportunity to partner with Indiana Black Expo, one of the biggest expos in the world, and support from community leaders such as William Mays of Mays Chemicals; we have been able to host basketball clinics, a positive teen party, and mentor underprivileged students at Indianapolis Public School #42. In total we have impacted hundreds of youth in the Indianapolis community. The beneficiaries of our innovation are all youth, but we are primarily focusing on the youth of Indianapolis between the ages of 10-18 years of age.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation? - Play It 4Ward’s mentoring of School #42 has gain the respect of the principle, students and parents. They have asked them to continue their mentoring for the rest of the year. The students, who are 4th graders, are already discussing going to college to help their parents and their socio-economic status. They have also been ask to partner again with Indiana Black Expo and provide a youth entrepreneur booth and help with this years positive teen activities
What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact? - Main barriers to creating or achieving the impact of this program is money for publicity to get the innovative idea out to the public and making sure we get the community as a whole involved
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)? - To date, we have been financed through a grant from Youth Venues and sponsorship from supportive leaders in the community. Our goal is to obtain our 501(c) 3 so that we are able to solicit additional funding from individuals and corporations.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization. - Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff. Due to our ideas being fairly new; we are just generating a yearly budget. 2008 will be our first full year of business.
• Number of staff : 6 full-time, 10 volunteers What is the potential demand for your innovation? - The potential demand for my innovative Idea is over 10,000 youth. With a continued partnership with Indiana Black Expo, we can impact thousands of youth on one weekend. Along with the thousands of youth we will impact via Internet and community outreach.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability? - Our main barriers to financial sustainability are obtaining our 501© 3 and then securing funding sources that believe in the mission and purpose of this great idea. Another barrier is expose; with exposure more youth and possible funding sources will know about our idea and will be interest in both utilizing and funding our idea.
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. - Play It 4Ward was developed out of a concern and need felt by Andre Stennette-Harrod to provide local youth with a safe, positive and healthy environment to spend their down time. Last summer he read in the newspaper that over 21 African-American men between the ages of 10-19 dead of violence in the streets of Indiana. When asked what contributed to this rise of violence, they stated that there were not enough positive activities. The Center For Disease Control stated in their Winter 2006 Report that homicide was the leading cause of death among African-American men ages 10-24. A plan was set forth to provide some peer on peer relief of this problem and five additional youth joined the team to form the organization Play It 4Ward. Since its conception, Play It 4Ward has received a seed grant from Youth Ventures, Inc to begin their impact on the community. They reached out to the community by putting on their first event for National and Global Youth Service Day, in which they had motivational speakers, a basketball shooting and dribbling clinic.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material. - A social entrepreneur since the age of eight when he formed an Andre’s Wish Foundation that educated men about women related cancers. Then in 2007,at the age of 15 years old, I saw another need to help my fellow peers stop killing each other and provide them with positive alternatives to conflict through sports and education. So, I brought 5 of my friends aboard and formed Play it 4Ward. In addition, I take college class from Anderson University and play on his high school basketball team.
Contact Information:
Andre Stenntte
This field has not been completed Play it 4ward ( ) Discussions about this entry |
I am so inspired by reading your bio. I am from Mobile, Alabama. I live in a area where underpriviledge youth are in total chaos. An 18 yr old boy who never been in trouble just shot and killed someone because he was afraid. We have children 11 yrs old that smoking marijuana. I am trying to get a summer basketball league started from ages 16 and under girls and boys in the YBOA League. I am trying to recruit coaches. I place to pratice but most of all financial funding. Do you have any suggestions or words of encourgagement..
Thanks,
Rose M Andrews
Mobile Regulators
"To combine sports, education and entertainment and provide a program to encourage and uplift youth in underprivileged areas" is such a worthy initiative. Congrats Andre on making a real difference in the lives of youth in Indiana. There is nothing greater than serving others. You are saving lives by providing a positive experience for young people where they can hope, dream, and believe in themselves. Great job.
Jennifer Azzi
Featured Changemakers Commentator
NBA and WNBA Community Ambassador
I would like to thank you for your comment and your encouraging words, I read your bio and I am encouraged by what you are doing for the community as well. It would be great to have the oppurtunity to further discuss ways that I may be able to benefit you and your mission in the community. If you are interested, you may contact me at andrestennette@yahoo.com. Thank you again and good luck with your career.
Andre Stennette
CEO/President of Play It 4ward
I wish that I had possessed your sense of social consciousness at fifteen, Andre. Apparently, you're a long-time social entrepreneur, too. Your goal to take basketball and use it to encourage young, black men to consider college and the scholarships that may be available to them is commendable. Of course, the fun dimension of the sport should never be diminished either, right? And focusing young people's attention on higher education ought to take place regardless of whether there's basketball-scholarship money available, too. After all, if we all had to depend solely on athletic scholarships to attend college, many of us would never have made it.
Steve Byars
Marshall School of Business
University of Southern California