Transforming Lives,
leveling the playing field, reshaping the future
Together we can break the cycle of poverty through youth sports
We provide diamond sport scholarships for talented student-athletes.
Youth sports convey a picture of American Dream-in theory. In reality, youth sports have become a powerful industry and only those from families who can afford the pay-to-play model are able to access the tremendous, lifelong benefits that playing sports provides.
The Dimond Sports Foundations (DSF) was estabilished to address the issues of access and diversity in youth sports by funding the training, coaching, and development of talented student-athletes. The foundation is run by a small team of dedicated professionals who are commited to elevating student-athletes to the next level.
ONLY 19%
of six to twelve-year-olds from low-income households play a team sport.
This is a stark contrast to the 41% of children who play a team sport and live in house holds that earn over $100,000/year.*
“The idea that inactivity is related directly to household income should be a wake-up call to every one of us. That is morally unacceptable, and it’s socially undesirable for the country.”
— Tom Cove
CEO | Sports & Fitness Industry Association
Remove Barriers.
Grow Through Diversity.
We help student-athletes develop and advance through technology and empower our youth with the skills and mindset to create a winning future for themselves. We support both development and showcase-level players from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds.
Our Advisory Board
The Diamond Sports Foundation Advisory Board is comprised of some of the most respected and nationally recognized Division I College head coaches in the game.
Their skill and expertise are instrumental in bringing authentic baseball evaluation to the development of our CURVE digital training platform. Their passion for improving accessibility and equality in baseball is an inspiration.
Meet Our Advisory Board
Tracy Smith
Advisory Board Chairman, Head Coach University of Michigan Wolverines.
In 2018, Tracy Smith eclipsed 700 career wins as an NCAA head coach. He has established a reputation of evaluating and developing talent. In 22 total years as a head coach, Smith has seen 80 of his players selected in the MLB Draft.
Kevin O'Sullivan
Head Coach,
University of Florida Gators
Kevin O’Sullivan and his staff have transformed the Gators into one of the marquee programs in college baseball, winning the program’s first national title in 2017 and turning the program into a regular in the College World Series.
Pat Casey
Former Head Coach,
Oregon State Beavers
Pat Casey, the winningest coach in Oregon State Athletics history, announced his retirement from coaching in September 2018. He claimed 900 victories at Oregon State, with the last coming in the final game of the 2018 College World Series as the Beavers won their third national championship.
Michele Smith
Color Analyst, ESPN
Olympic gold medalist and National Champion
Michele Smith, USA Softball Hall of Fame honoree and Olympic gold medalist (1996 and 2000), has enjoyed a storied career as a player, coach and television analyst. A two-time All-America selection at Oklahoma State, she has served as ESPN’s lead softball color analyst since 1998.
Jim Hackett
General Manager, Baseball &
Softball Wilson Sporting Goods
Jim Hackett has forged an impactful career with Wilson Sporting Goods, bringing great product innovation to the company and its 5 baseball and softball equipment brands. A graduate of Middlebury (VT) College, Jim captained both the football and baseball teams as a student-athlete. He began his career with Nike, and prior to joining Wilson, he earned an MBA degree in Finance and Marketing from Northwestern University.
Families struggle and sacrifice to participate in this pay-to-play ecosystem. Others must opt-out altogether. This inequality flies in the face of our national pastime–we have seen a decline in participation in baseball among socio-economically disadvantaged youth. This is discouraging because we know sports participation can be a valuable access point to college for hard-working student-athletes.
Those who participate in sports grow not only in physical skill but in emotional and social ways that provide lifelong advantages, including:
- Improved self-esteem
- Higher grades
- Effective goal-setting
- The ability to take initiative
Situation
Too many youths face barriers to participation in sports.
Youth sports like baseball have changed. Budget cuts to school and community programs have reduced the number of affordable options, and a commercialized youth sports enterprise has emerged to fill the gap. For talented student-athletes, the most prominent path to continuing to play in college is through expensive travel teams, tournaments, and private coaching.
19%
< $25,000
Household Income
41%
> $100,000
Household Income
Families struggle and sacrifice to participate in this pay-to-play ecosystem. Others must opt-out altogether. This inequality flies in the face of our national pastime–we have seen a decline in participation in baseball among socio-economically disadvantaged youth. This is discouraging because we know sports participation can be a valuable access point to college for hard-working student-athletes.
Those who participate in sports grow not only in physical skill but in emotional and social ways that provide lifelong advantages, including:
- Improved self-esteem
- Higher grades
- Effective goal-setting
- The ability to take initiative
Participating in youth sports creates pathways to excellence. We want to make excellence available to everyone regardless of their economic status.
Solution
Bringing equality and
excellence to youth baseball
We are leveling the playing field by giving our student-athletes access to competitive, travel team baseball. In addition to the physical benefits, research indicates that many sports like baseball also provide critical life skills development. We help student-athletes elevate their play by providing:
- Scholarships to play and train on elite travel teams via the Diamond Allegiance.
- Premium gear from our partners adidas® and Wilson.
- Expert coaching analysis from respected former MLB players backed by our DI Advisory Board coaches.
- Our proprietary player development platform, CURVE™
The Aspen Institute Healthy Sport Index currently ranks baseball among the top 10 high school sports in terms of physical activity and psychosocial benefits.
The Aspen Institute Healthy Sport Index currently ranks baseball among the top 10 high school sports in terms of physical activity and psychosocial benefits.
Our diverse student-athletes are encouraged and supported throughout their journey as they develop into high performing athletes and citizens.
We help our youth achieve their goals by combining the passion and dedication of our executive team with insights from our expert coach consultants and our Advisory Board. These three groups work together through the Curve by Baseball.works™ app, our college player development technology that makes high-performance coaching affordable and accessible for all of our student-athletes.
The Diamond Sports Foundation is committed to bringing humanity and fair-play back to youth sports.
It’s Time to Step Up
Get Involved and help change the future
I invite you to join us in our mission to improve access and diversity in youth baseball. The long-term benefits of sport are well-documented and too powerful to ignore. We want to make these benefits accessible to all youth regardless of their socio-economic background.
We put your contribution to work by providing coaching, training, and college player development for our talented student-athletes. You can give the opportunity to play on a skilled travel team with access to quality equipment and experiences that will last a lifetime.
This initiative is bigger than sport. This is about setting kids up for a better future and breaking the cycle of poverty.
We look forward to discussing how you or your organization can get involved today.
Brian Dempsey
Executive Director,
Diamond Sports Foundation
Join us in our mission
to improve access and diversity in youth baseball.
Join us in our mission
to improve access and diversity in youth baseball.
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