Changing Youth Basketball 2020-2021

Our names are Isaiah Aboagye (M.P.A., B.A Human Services, Minor Psychology) and Steven Pierre Saint (B.S Exercise Science) Bronx, NY natives and we would like to share with you a little bit about our dream of the Changing Youth Basketball (CYB) Organization: Changing Youth Basketball is a non-profit organization that provides inner-city youth with opportunities to Play, Learn and Grow. We believe through sports we have the power to reduce youth violence, promote health, and inspire academic success for children in every community. Our mission is to inspire youth to recognize their potential and create goals on and off the court. Our ultimate goal is to guide young athletes to be confident, active, forward-thinking,  college graduates and productive citizens. 

For the past few years, we have been blessed to have been able to collaborate with school authorities and other non-profits to provide year-round gym access enabling students and aspiring athletes to keep fit, develop skills, partake in organized play, attend college tours, instill confidence and academic success through our SAT prep, circle time, professional presentations and all-around mentorship to students while leveraging basketball. Recently, we have been able to launch our “Let’s Talk About It” virtual series where we have been interviewing college coaches, college athletes, professional athletes, and staff where our viewers gained insight into some very prevalent topics to our youth including time management, mental health, the college application process, work ethic, managing stress, and adversity, plus much more. 

In addition, we were also able to provide a few exceptional, young men and women the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of college coaches and scouts. Through a series of workouts and scrimmages, the CYB team was able to compile hours of data and footage that will be edited and sent to over 75 colleges, universities, and preparatory schools. Currently, we have been developing our “CYB Elite''team where we will be using traveling to enhance the experience of our middle school and high school athletes. The pandemic and recent display of social injustices have shown us how essential we as a community to stick together and support one another. Changing Youth Basketball believes it is our duty to keep uplifting our younger generations by any means. 

Throughout the program’s existence, we are aware that a lack of funding may arise. Hence, to tackle that, we are constantly seeking funds in the form of sponsorships, grants, and donations. We are also constantly on the lookout for partners that will help support and finance the program in several ways. In our capacity, we have had the pleasure to serve hundreds of young men and women within the local community. Our goal is to continue enabling impactful and insightful programming within our community so that we are able to serve our urban community throughout New York City. Our initiatives will enable us to do even more by giving more students in underserved communities the opportunity to benefit from our platform. 

As we may know, funding is an important part of our project and it is vital to the success of this project in its entirety. Every fund received will help support our students who are invested in our youth program and will help us enable their dreams of becoming a part of our family through the game we so much love. Some of the things we intend to do with the funds will include: sports and exercise equipment, uniforms, gym space, traveling expenses, insurance, marketing, acquiring program supplies (food, drinks, raffles, giveaways, etc.), and other miscellaneous expenses. 100% of the funds raised in this campaign will go directly to the needs and expansion of our program. No donation is too little or too small. Even if you are unable to make a financial contribution, passing this information to your friends, family, and colleagues will be greatly appreciated.