The Louisville Urban League

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will, and a lack to change”-Vince Lombardi. Central Dewitt’s football program usually has a tradition of great success and excellent morals. Unfortunately, in the 2014 and 2015 football season they have a combined record of 5-13, which does not live up to the standards of the DeWitt community. There are many problems circulating the football program, but most involve the lack of experience in coaching. Central Dewitt ‘s losing football record for the past two seasons can be solved by coaches properly developing their athletes, incorporating new offensive and defensive strategies, and increasing player participation.

Most of our youth playing AAU basketball have the dream or drive of playing at the next level. The next level could be college or professional; the idea is that playing in more tournaments will increase your exposure to scouts. European and players born outside of the U.S. have been a steady addition to professional basketball in the US. San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich prefers the European player because they are, "fundamentally harder working than most American kids (Wickersham, 2013)." The image below shows the Spurs championship roster from 2014 and the balance of European to American players. The Spurs have won 5 NBA championships since 1999, which is tied with the Los Angeles Lakers over the same period for most in basketball.

To the majority of America, Auburn University Football is just a sport. To the thousands of Auburn Tigers fans worldwide, it is so much more than that. Tim Stanfield describes it as “…more than a game…it’s a passion” (Stanfield et al. 61). The culture surrounding Auburn Tigers football is a family and tight-knit community. As Pat Dye, past coach of the Auburn Tigers puts it, “We are close here, and that is part of what it means to be a Tiger” (Glier xii). There are generations of Tigers fans, “family” traditions, and the support and encouragement of a family behind every Tiger out there playing. To be a

Although many years has past, the Harlem Children’s Zone has developed a plan of action in one of the most devastated neighborhood in America. An adjacency with a child poverty rate greater the national average, the program is intended to reduce to the smallest possible degree the threat of

There are thousands of children who play sports in the communities on facilities supported by residents through their tax dollars. The Miracle League of El Paso provides disabled children and young adults in our communities who cannot participate in a sport on a conventional field with a place to play baseball. The Miracle League of El Paso removes the obstructions that stop children with disabilities off the baseball field and allows them to experience playing the field. The main obstruction for disabled children starts from the natural grass fields. The Miracle League of El Paso is about building self-esteem, making new friends, and confidence. The Miracle League of El Paso applies a "buddy" system – coupling each

The University Interscholastic League – commonly referred to as the UIL - facilitates academic, athletic, and music competitions for elementary and secondary schools across the state of Texas. The University of Texas at Austin started the UIL in 1910 as two separate organizations, the Debating League of Texas High Schools and the Interscholastic Athletic Association. In 1913, the organizations merged and became what is known today as the University Interscholastic League, commonly referred to as the UIL. The UIL oversees the following academic competitions: Accounting, Calculator Applications, Computer Applications, Computer Science, Current Issues & Events, Editorial Writing, Feature Writing, Headline Writing, Literary Criticism, Mathematics, News Writing, Number Sense, Ready Writing, Science, Social Studies, Spelling & Vocabulary, CX Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Informative Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, Poetry Interpretation, Prose Interpretation, One-Act Play, and Film. The UIL also facilitates competitive athletic competitions from the district level to the state level for secondary schools in the following sports: Team Tennis, Cross Country, Volleyball, Football, Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Basketball, Soccer, Tennis, Golf, Track & Field, Softball, and Baseball. The final category of UIL organized events is music competitions: Marching Band, Concert & Sight-Reading Contests, State Wind Ensemble, and the Solo-Ensemble Contest.

Through the generosity of Cleveland families, including the Gund Family, have generously donated money for the betterment of the city. Foundations work together to support institutions to make Cleveland a more vibrant and lively city; they give money to the art and cultural of the city but also the school and hospitals. The Families and Foundations don’t give money to the city because they have to, they give money because they believed that the City of Cleveland is a part of their universe of obligations. The citizens in Cleveland are responsible for one another and with that mentality we work together towards the improvement of the city we live

Inner city baseball teams, promote a positive environment for children and young adults to help prevent and reduce the rise in city crime rate. In many eyes, the people of America value baseball as the number one sport nationwide. Many Americans live for the crack of a bat when it makes contact with the ball, or for the thrill of predicting on where the balls going to land or if the team player is going to catch the “pop fly”. Baseball is a sport played by some and watched by millions. Baseball is a sport that requires nothing less than high quality team work, hand eye coordination, and chomping on a stick of “big chew gum”. It’s every minor baseball players dream to make it into the major leagues, and to hit a home run or a grand

Every year the NCAA helps Universities provide more than 2.7 billion dollars in athletic scholarships to more than 150,000 students. Full scholarships cover tuition and fees, room and board, course related books, and a full meal plan. The majority of each scholarship allotted per student is taken care of through the schools income rather than the NCAA themselves. The National College Athletic Association acknowledges twenty four different sports and over 460,000 athletes that compete in the organization. In the 2014 fiscal year the NCAA had a total revenue of over one billion dollars, with nearly eighty point five million in surplus. Since 2008 the NCAA’s total revenue has already doubled and is still on the rise yet the NCAA claims to be a non-profit organization. With all this profit going to the NCAA people fail to recognize where the money is coming from, and not necessarily where the proceeds are going but where they are not. Every athlete that competes in a collegiate sport, whether on scholarship or not help supply the NCAA’s income; every athlete that helps supply the NCAA’s billion dollar industry is not allowed to receive one cent in payment for their service. Although this may seem fair to many, 460,000 hardworking athletes believe different.

The question of whether the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) should separate public and private schools into their own divisions has been a topic of discussion for years. As a product of 14 years of Catholic education, I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in athletics during my high school career. Many of the teams that we played were public school teams from small communities where athletics were almost more important than an education. Unfortunately, I have witnessed firsthand the animosity that has surfaced between public and private schools.

The Promise zone initiative is designed to redevelop high poverty dominated areas through inclusive, evidence- based strategies and helping local leaders take the helm of federal funding. Due to disinvestment and poor policy implementation that isolated poor, have contributed to areas of concentrated poverty all over the country. The Promise Zones initiative will revitalize high poverty communities across the country by attracting private investment, providing affordable housing, creating educational opportunities, providing tax incentives for hiring workers and reducing violent crime, and supporting local leaders in navigating federal programs. The economic nature of this policy is allocation of services and redistributing

For many years cities like Detroit, Toledo, and Cleveland to name a few, have been slowly losing population and the end of the decrease still hasn’t been determined yet. The city of Cleveland has been hit with multiple downturns; declining steel mill, massive ford plant shutdowns, increased crime rate, and the inner city school district quality. Coming into this world, we are always striving towards the “American Dream” and for the people in the city; this idea is starting to fade away because of the lack of opportunity for them to succeed. The city council of Cleveland needs to rebuild the industry and fund better schooling in order to prevent thousands of people from leaving.

Mission The mission of Hyde Square Task Force is to develop the skills of youth and their families so they are empowered to enhance their own lives and build a strong and vibrant urban community. Hyde Square Task Force’s programs and civic engagement activities are developed by youth and residents in response to community needs. Youth are at the heart of all our work. We believe that social change is most successful when young people develop the skills to succeed and become committed change-makers. Since its founding, Hyde Square Task Force has developed ongoing programs for youth and families that not only help them advance at school and in careers, but also give them opportunities to take pride and action in their communities. Hyde Square Task Force was founded in the late 1980s as a neighborhood effort to

In the year of 1920, Roger Baldwin, Crystal Eastman, and Albert DeSilver led a group of civil rights activists and formed ACLU. During this time in history, minorities barely had any rights at all, and freedom of speech was not the Supreme Court’s priority. Likewise,

I have spent copious amounts of time in communities stricken with low socioeconomic statuses, less fortunate than the usual neighborhoods I see in Pikesville. The experiences has engrained a strong moral compass into me, leading me to have a solid goal; of beautifying and bettering areas of destitute.