Rec Sports

Carnegie seeks youth artists for annual Ready, Set, Show! Exhibit

Once again, the Carnegie Arts Center in downtown Turlock will be hosting its annual youth art exhibition, READY, SET, SHOW! This is a unique opportunity for creative young people. Youth in grades K-12 (ages 5-18) from throughout the region are invited to present their artwork to the public in the CAC’s Ferrari Gallery, a museum-quality […]

Published

25 minutes ago

on

May 6, 2025

By

Your Sports Nation

Once again, the Carnegie Arts Center in downtown Turlock will be hosting its annual youth art exhibition, READY, SET, SHOW! This is a unique opportunity for creative young people. Youth in grades K-12 (ages 5-18) from throughout the region are invited to present their artwork to the public in the CAC’s Ferrari Gallery, a museum-quality exhibition space.

“We love showing the work of school-age artists; it is an important way to encourage young people in in our area to be creative Thanks to support from the Express Yourself! Justin Ferrari Youth Arts Fund we have the resources to make this exhibit a fun, annual event,” said Lisa McDermott, Carnegie Arts Center director.

This year, the exhibit will have a special section dedicated to the many original creations for the Carnegie’s 2024 banner contest on the theme of “Our Valley.” The winning art created by local students has been on display throughout downtown Turlock since the fall. Now, all the designs submitted for the contest will be on display in the gallery.

Entries are limited to a maximum of three per student. Entry fee is $2 per artwork for non-members. Entries are free for students who are CAC Art Club members or whose parents, grandparent or guardians are CAC members. Complete details and entry forms are available on the Call for Entries page of the CAC website (www.CarnegieArtsTurlock.org/discover/opportunities/young-artists).

Entries must be dropped off at the CAC, between May 20 and May 24 during open hours. No frames are allowed; artwork on paper (including photographs) should be mounted to construction paper or poster board. Mounting materials and assistance will be available at the CAC during the drop-off hours.

The annual art show will be open from May 30 – June 28. Admission will be free to visit for everyone 18 and younger. A free Family Friday reception celebrating all the artists will open the show from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 30.

The Carnegie Arts Center is located at 250 N. Broadway in downtown Turlock and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Link

3

Rec Sports

Brands can leverage youth sports in a smarter, more experiential way

Youth sports have always been a fertile market for brands. The traditional model would see local brands attempt to connect mostly with parents, often on the playing field and using legacy tactics. A local pizza spot or muffler shop would buy and brand uniforms, pay for a banner to be hung on the outfield fence […]

Published

42 minutes ago

on

May 6, 2025

By

Your Sports Nation

Youth sports have always been a fertile market for brands. The traditional model would see local brands attempt to connect mostly with parents, often on the playing field and using legacy tactics. A local pizza spot or muffler shop would buy and brand uniforms, pay for a banner to be hung on the outfield fence or purchase a sponsorship that would earn them a shout-out over the public address announcements at halftime. A boilerplate appeal to a highly targeted audience.

The modern brand marketing model is aimed at the athletes themselves, leveraging social media, video and online virality to deliver and reinforce brand messaging. Both the old and new strategies have value — especially for certain brands and in specific settings. But they also have dramatic limitations.

Try making inroads, for instance, against Gatorade or BodyArmor at an AAU basketball tournament with a competitor CPG brand. Some brands have not just a foothold, but a stranglehold in these spaces. For challenger brands, connecting with an audience and successfully scaling up to carve out a healthy market share in a fertile, valuable space may be viewed as a herculean task. But it doesn’t have to be.

Tactics that reach today’s youth sports market

Youth sports families are estimated to spend $600 to $3,000 per sport, per season. That adds up to a global youth sports market that, according to Statista, totaled $37.5 billion in 2022 and is expected to nearly double to $69.4 billion by 2030. The significance of any market of that size and growing at that rate should be self-evident. But because the youth sports audience is also a high-value target, challenger brands have the potential to make quick, impressive gains in market share and brand awareness in the space.

So, what’s the way forward: the old approach, or the new one? Well, neither. And both. Aspects of traditional and contemporary brand marketing strategies can — and should — apply in youth sports settings. Tactics may include displays and other on-site collateral. Email and social media campaigns may be used in conjunction with each other, perhaps deployed a bit further down the marketing funnel or customer journey. But in youth sports, nothing drives brand awareness and engagement quite like experiential marketing.

Experiential marketing and brand activations at competitions

Rather than competing for eyes and ears using standard tactics in a setting that makes for a constant battlefield of sights and sounds, brands can build their marketing into the overall youth sports experience. Brand activations literally meet athletes and parents where they’re at, appealing to a captive audience that craves engagement during tournament and event down time using demos and discoveries.

Meanwhile, youth sports athletes have proliferated as market micro-influencers — and often powerful ones. Young athletes have pull among their peers, setting fashion trends (and not only on the field or among teammates) while swaying their parents’ decision-making. And because brand activations are tactile, in-the-moment engagements that are embedded in the youth sports experience, a brand can leverage an activation to fold itself into the competition, tagging along in memories and connecting with the target audience in a way that then amplifies like nothing else.

Scaling challenger brands through youth sports

Breaking into any market as a challenger brand can make for a steep uphill climb, and it’s no different in youth sports, despite the opportunity the market presents. In addition to the robust brand competition within many product areas, the relationship with the youth sports target audience is a tricky one. Given the economic climate and financial commitment already required of youth sports, brands should be strategic in their approach.

Rather than marketing to the youth sports end user as a frequent and deep-pocketed consumer, brands would do well to focus on converting them into advocates, ambassadors and influencers. Brand activations that energize a grade-school gymnast or a teenage baseball pitcher reverberate beyond the playing field, influencing the purchasing habits of a team, a class or a school. That’s the sort of amplification a challenger brand simply can’t find elsewhere.

John Stewart is CEO at Fastbreak AI, an AI-powered sports operations platform helping professional and youth sports organizations streamline scheduling, tournaments, sponsorships and revenue generation.

Link

4

Rec Sports

WOLF PACK CONTINUE TO EXPAND FOOTPRINT WITH STRONG 2024-25 SEASON IN THE COMMUNITY AND AT THE BOX OFFICE

May 6, 2025 HARTFORD, CT – The 50th Anniversary of professional hockey in the city of Hartford was a roaring success for the Hartford Wolf Pack, as the organization completed another successful season. The Wolf Pack enjoyed another strong year of growth in terms of ticket sales and their footprint in the Greater Hartford Community. […]

Published

1 hour ago

on

May 6, 2025

By

Your Sports Nation

May 6, 2025

HARTFORD, CT – The 50th Anniversary of professional hockey in the city of Hartford was a roaring success for the Hartford Wolf Pack, as the organization completed another successful season.

The Wolf Pack enjoyed another strong year of growth in terms of ticket sales and their footprint in the Greater Hartford Community.

The club sported 19 lower bowl sellouts during the 2024-25 campaign, a mark that helped them see another historic season at the box office.

Over the course of 36 regular season home games, the Wolf Pack welcomed an average of 5,590 fans to the XL Center in downtown Hartford. This marked the club’s highest single-season average attendance since the 2010-11 season.

This marked the first time since the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons that the Wolf Pack averaged over 5,000 fans per game in back-to-back seasons. The club averaged 5,456 fans during the 2023-24 campaign.

In total, over 201,000 fans came through the XL Center doors this season, including 10,074 on Jan. 11, 2025. That marked the first time since Jan. 28, 2017, that the club welcomed over 10,000 fans to the XL Center for a game.

The club also set a record for the most paid tickets distributed in franchise history.

The 2024-25 season also saw the Wolf Pack continue to expand their footprint in the Greater Hartford Community. The franchise’s beloved mascot, Sonar, made 67 appearances during the season at local schools, community events, community fundraising initiatives, youth sports practices, and more.

Hartford Wolf Pack players and coaches also chipped in, making 41 visits during the season. In addition to traditional visits to local schools and youth hockey practices, Wolf Pack players and coaches made trips to Connecticut Children’s Hospital to donate toys during the holiday season as part of the team’s annual toy drive and to donate the teddy bears following the team’s annual ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ game.

Players and coaches also stopped by a local soup kitchen in Southington, CT, to assist with dinner service and cleanup in November around the Thanksgiving holiday.

Players also participated in CHR’s ‘Adopt-A-Family’ Toy Drive, where they purchased gifts for families dealing with financial hardships during the holiday season.

Additionally, the ‘Hartford Wolf Pack Community Foundation’ donated over 1,912 tickets to the community during the 2024-25 season. These tickets were donated to local schools, hospitals, youth sports organizations, and charitable organizations for a variety of purposes.

Over $36,000 was donated by the ‘Hartford Wolf Pack Community Foundation’ as part of the annual grant process. Grants were awarded to ‘Hands of Hartford’, ‘Horizons at Westminster School’, ‘Ädelbrook Behavioral Consultation’, ‘Hartford P.A.L’, and ‘Gaylord Specialty Healthcare’.

$12,321.89 was raised by the organization via DASH Auctions throughout the season. That money was then donated to numerous nonprofits in the Greater Hartford Area.

Additionally, the Wolf Pack hosted numerous drives throughout the season. The club helped collect over 200 care packages put together thanks to donations from their ‘Military Appreciation Night’. Those care packages, in conjunction with ‘Boxes to Boots’, were sent to a unit in Syria, a naval ship, and two other undisclosed addresses. The care packages, along with letters written by players and coaches, were sent to units with ties to the state of Connecticut.

Over 350 books were donated by fans at the club’s annual book drive this past March. Those books were donated to the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC).

“The CREC Academy of Computer Science and Engineering Middle School is so thankful to the Hartford Wolf Pack and it’s fans for this generous donation,” said Jill Wnuk, school Principal, ahead of the annual drive.

On Feb. 22, the club hosted its annual food drive benefitting ‘Hands on Hartford’. The food drive brought in over 600 pounds of food.

“Hands On Hartford is so grateful for our wonderful, ongoing partnership with the Hartford Wolf Pack,” said Kelly Dougherty, Community Engagement, Partnerships, and Communications Coordinator with ‘Hands on Hartford’.

“With their (along with their loyal fans’) generous support over the years, through gameday food drives, financial donations, and their very special player-made ornament auction, we have been able to continue to stock our community pantry’s shelves and stuff hundreds of backpacks full of nourishing food for individuals, families and children falling on hard times and experiencing food insecurity.”

“We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Hartford Wolf Pack for exemplifying the true meaning of teamwork. We could not do this important work without the support of our community.”

For more information on the Wolf Pack’s community initiatives and the ‘Hartford Wolf Pack Community Foundation’, please visit www.hartfordwolfpack.com/fan-zone/hartford-wolf-pack-community-foundation.

# # #

ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack are the top player-development affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers and play at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers newest faces including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

Link

4

Rec Sports

Looking inward can prevent becoming the ‘crazy sports parents’

Ben Shelton on his relationship with Trinity Rodman American tennis star Ben Shelton talks about the launch of his new relationship with USA soccer’s Trinity Rodman. Sports Seriously The “crazy sports parents,” Skye Eddy says, have ruined the experience for everyone. You know them. They live vicariously through their child. They have unrealistic expectations for […]

Published

1 hour ago

on

May 6, 2025

By

Your Sports Nation

The “crazy sports parents,” Skye Eddy says, have ruined the experience for everyone.

You know them. They live vicariously through their child. They have unrealistic expectations for him or her as an athlete. Or they are simply so unreasonable that there’s little we can do to help them understand us better.

“As a coach, I’ve had an irrational parent on my team, and it has made my season miserable,” says Eddy, a former USWNT hopeful turned sports parent advocate. “They’ve been taking way too much of my time and energy from the children by asking too many questions. And so as coaches, when we’ve been in those experiences, we say, ‘OK, well, we’re just gonna avoid all parents, because that was a really difficult season.’ ”

Even Eddy, a one-time defensive MVP of the NCAA women’s soccer Final Four for George Mason who later coached on the staff at the University of Richmond, found herself labeled as one of them.

She saw a veil come over the organization’s executive director when she wanted to chat. To him, she was “a crazy parent, complaining about my daughter … I’m like, ‘Oh no, no, no, I’m just here to help,'” she says.

Then the door shut. It was the ignition that launched her passion project, soccerparenting.com, which today has about 43,000 members nationwide. It offers advice, training and encouragement for coaches and parents and youth sports leaders with a goal of helping us understand each other a little better.

From Eddy’s experience and research, the vast majority of parents are not “crazy,” but level-headed folks who just stressed.

“Parenting is stressful these days, like society’s stressful,” says Eddy, 53, a mother of two kids put through the athletic wringer. “You add on a sports experience, and there is a lot.”

Eddy spoke with us about how our soccer parenting, and sports parenting, can improve when we take a more introspective look at ourselves. From the discussion, USA TODAY Sports came with ways we can soothe our stress around our kids’ games and improve the environment in which they are playing.

Your child’s sports journey is unique from your own. Maybe you need to care less about it.

Eddy, a former goalie, reached as high as U.S. women’s soccer player could go in the 1990s, barring making the national team. She played professionally in Italy. She pushes back at the notion that she was living out her own athletic experiences when her daughter, Cali, also became an elite soccer player in high school.

“I loved my athletic career,” Eddy says. “I just didn’t know what to say to her to help her, because our mindsets are so different.

“She was like, ‘I want to play D-I, I want to play D-1,’ and she was getting D-1 interest, but she wasn’t pursuing it. She would not pick up a phone and call the coach. She was struggling with her self-esteem, her confidence around herself as an athlete, and so she really needed coaches calling her. She needed to be built up like that.”

Eddy was seeing things from her own point of view, and what she would have done. In more recent years, she came across a term (“Decoupling”) that would have helped her.

It is associated with a romantic relationship, where two people pull back from their emotional connection but remain friends. It can also apply to teenagers growing into their own identities as athletes.

“It’s sort of like not feeling things so deeply, letting our children dictate the path and us really being OK with it,” she says. “That is the learning, the making the mistakes: Not calling the coach, not eating the right food, or going to the sleepover the night before and playing really badly.

“And I think that because as parents, it’s so easy to feel like the stakes are so high, we try to interject too much.”

But how do we redirect ourselves? The process can start with our actions on the sidelines, and often when our kids are very young.

Your sideline behavior may be relieving your stress but stunting your child’s progress

You may not admit you’re stressed at your kids’ games. But perhaps unintentionally, you are projecting it onto them.

You cheer loudly. You jump up and down on the bleachers. You call to them. You interfere.

“That’s stress,” Eddy says.

Soccer Parenting’s Sideline Project, which helps condition parents on game day, identifies three types of sideline behaviors:

We’re “supportive” when we sit in attentive silence, cheer after positive outcomes for our child and his or her teammates, and perhaps even a good play from the other team.

We’re “hostile” when we yell at referees, yell at our child, or even other players. (Keep reading.)

We may not realize when we’re being “distracting.” This means we’re offering specific instructions to a child. Go to the ball! Get rid of it! Run!

“Distracting behavior serves one primary purpose: To alleviate our stress as parents and coaches,” Eddy says in her Sideline Project online course. “Players should be hearing their teammates and reasonable information from their coach, not their parents.”

In the video, she demonstrates the Stroop Effect, named after an American psychologist who measured selective attention, processing speed and how interference affects performance.

She has an interactive exercise using colors to illustrate how your children feel when they are concentrating in a game and adults interrupt them. I hitched when I did it.

“There’s a lag,” Eddy says. “This moment of interruption. That is how your child feels when they are playing, concentrating on the technical skill and what their decision is going to be, and they hear your voice telling them to shoot or pass.”

Instead, a good youth coach won’t distract, but give a subtle cue – a nod, a whistle, a finger point or a closed fist – to trigger something they worked on in practice.

“Whatever it is that we’re screaming, we’re taking away their learning opportunity,” Eddy says.

‘Do you realize I’m 13?’ If we focus on being less distracting, the truly hostile parents stand out

Cali was a tough defender. So tough, apparently, that she once came home from road club soccer tournament and reported: “Another parent from the other team was sitting on the sideline, flicking me off. She just sat there, giving me the finger, staring right at me.

“I said, ‘You do realize I’m 13 and you’re a grown adult, right?'” she told her mom.

Eddy estimates that 2% of the youth sports ecosystem, perhaps one parent per team, are these hostile ones. Many of us are merely distracting, a quality we can correct.

U.S. soccer recently updated a referee abuse prevention policy for youth and amateur soccer. Suspensions from two games to lifetime bans are now issued if you belittle, berate, insult, harass, touch or physically assault sports officials.Report the abusers and get them thrown out. They are not part of our experience.

I like to sit with the opposing team’s fans when my sons are pitching in their baseball games. While I get a different video angle, I meet new people and feel and hear their emotions. Sometimes I just listen to them. It helps remind me why we are all in this.

“We care so much about sport because of the connection,” Eddy says.

We can communicate easier with coaches if both sides respect boundaries

Cali quit soccer for short time when she was eight. She was bored.

Players were standing in lines. They did the same warmup at every practice. They weren’t even given adequate instruction, Eddy thought. It was labeled as an advanced development program.

When she asked other parents what they thought of the environment, they were fine with it.

“It struck me that until parents understand what a good learning environment looks like, to lead to player inspiration and joy and really giving kids a connection to sport, then we’re really going to be missing a big part of the solution when it comes to improving youth sports,” she says.

“The last thing we want to do is be perceived as one of these irrational parents, so we’re not curious, we don’t ask questions, we don’t listen to our instincts, we don’t follow up when we when we probably should, because we don’t want to be perceived to care too much when there’s a big difference between being irrational and caring.”

When she tried to speak up and was rebuffed, she became a youth coach. And soccerparenting.com was born.

One of its foundational principles is to encourage coach and parent interaction, with clear and appropriate boundaries.

Some suggested parameters a coach can use:

The door is open to chat … When your kid comes home from practice in a bad mood or doesn’t want to go the next day; if he or she is having trouble playing a particular position; if you don’t fully understand the scoring system or rules of the sport.

The door is closed to chat … If you have a complaint about another player that doesn’t involve a safety issue; if you’re wondering why the coach made a tactical decision; if you don’t respect a coach’s time and want to have a long conversation after practice. (You can schedule one instead.)

“We see the correlation between parents having more understanding and the children’s experience getting better, and then therefore clubs and coaches having to get better,” Eddy says.

Coach Steve: Three steps to dealing with a ‘bad’ coach

Be proactive, and intentional, about the way you handle stress

Even when we feel we have things under control during games, sometimes we don’t. Eddy laughs about once walking across the field with a plan in her head of what she would say to Cali. It didn’t involve the game. Instead, in the heat of the moment, she said: “You really need to work on your left foot.”

“Where did that come from?” she says. “I had zero intention of saying that. It just poured right out of me.”

When I posed a question on social media about how we can be better soccer parents, Palmer Neill, of Dallas, told me: “Basically, when you feel like doing something at a game or practice other than cheer or clap … just don’t do it. Let the coach be the coach and let the ref, ref. You don’t have (a) role. Life gets a lot easier when you realize this.”

But we can also recognize that sometimes we slip, too, and take precautions. When Neill barks to his 10-year-old son to get onsides, or about an opponent’s hand ball, he sits back in his chair and doesn’t get up. He tries to stay seated during the game.

“It seems to give me one extra second to think before I sit up (or stand-up) and yell,” he says.

Our own education and reflection, Eddy says, can relieve stress.

Know the rules (and recent modifications to them). Know your kid’s goals in sports. Be curious, not upset, when other kids have more skills than yours.

Perhaps it’s the Relative Age Effect, where young athletes born earliest among their age grouping are faster and stronger. Or that those kids move better because they play other sports or have more free play outside with friends and have better functional movement skills.

We can put our own sports paths into better context, too.

Coach Steve: MLS NEXT youth soccer rankings emphasize development over wins

Remember they are still kids, even when they’re creeping toward adulthood. There is satisfaction in watching who they are becoming.

What did you do when you were eight? Twelve? Sixteen?

When Eddy thinks about it, she liked to socialize at the local skating rink.

She only trained twice a week with her soccer team. On off days, she rode to a local park and kicked the ball into a piece of plywood against a fence. She would dive at the rebounds.

She used to wonder if Cali, who came back to soccer on her own terms, was getting enough reps on her own.

“What would I have been doing if I was in intense practices for an hour and a half four days a week, plus traveling to a lot in the games?” Eddy says. “Would I still have been doing that? Likely not.”

In today’s world, it feels like kids sports matter a lot more. Maybe they do when we have more opportunities to play in front of college coaches. Maybe they don’t when we play rec soccer, like Eddy’s son, Davis, did, and parents screamed when he missed a shot.

Davis, now a junior in college, had a better experience playing at a small high school.

“Having that outlet for sport was really important to his development, just as a person, and getting some space and, kind of way to blow off some steam as a student,” she says.

Cali decided to work at a sleepaway camp in Maine during the summer before her junior year, a crucial one for college recruiting. She became a Division III All-American and now works for the Columbus Crew.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s so hard for you,’ but not saying that out loud,” Eddy says. “That was a really important capstone to a really important thing in our life. Yet, she really missed a lot of opportunities, and there were consequences of that. We just need to make sure that it’s our child’s voice that we’re hearing.”

We are when we let them lead the way, to choose friends over sports when they wish, and to have those sleepovers. Well, maybe not the sleepovers.

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@usatoday.com

Link

4

Rec Sports

DICK’S Sporting Goods Leads $120M Investment in Youth Sports Platform

DICK’S led the $120M round of investment, obtaining a minority stake alongside other new investors Dynasty Equity, LionTree, Miller Sports & Entertainment and existing investor The Chernin Group (TCG) NEW YORK, May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Unrivaled Sports, the nation’s leader in youth sports experiences, today announced a strategic investment by DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE: […]

Published

2 hours ago

on

May 6, 2025

By

Your Sports Nation

DICK’S led the $120M round of investment, obtaining a minority stake alongside other new investors Dynasty Equity, LionTree, Miller Sports & Entertainment and existing investor The Chernin Group (TCG)

NEW YORK, May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Unrivaled Sports, the nation’s leader in youth sports experiences, today announced a strategic investment by DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), which led the company’s latest funding round. The strategic investment will help fuel Unrivaled Sports’ mission — to create unrivaled sport experiences for young athletes everywhere — by continuing to deliver and expand best-in-class experiences, programs and destinations for young athletes across the nation.

Unrivaled Sports, the nation’s leader in youth sports experiences, delivers best-in-class experiences for
young athletes, their families and communities through a diverse set of brands across youth sports venues, properties and programming.

“DICK’S Sporting Goods has become the undisputed leader in serving young athletes as they gear up to play the sports they love. Their mission-driven approach to youth sports has been at the center of their ecosystem, from their early days as a small family business to their growth into the nation’s leading sporting goods retailer to the grants they provide to youth programs through the Sports Matter initiative, and now, their partnership with us at Unrivaled Sports,” said Unrivaled Sports Chairman & CEO Andy Campion. “We are thrilled to build the future of youth sports together with DICK’S Sporting Goods, and with the support of our other new strategic partners.”

Unrivaled Sports and DICK’S Sporting Goods coming together marks the powerful alignment of two organizations committed to creating experiences and environments that unlock the magic of youth sports and create lifelong memories for girls and boys of all ages and their families. The investment comes from DSG Ventures, the corporate venture capital fund of DICK’S.

“We’re incredibly excited to invest in and partner with Unrivaled Sports,” said Michael Stack, Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development at DICK’S Sporting Goods. “They share our core belief that sports have the power to change lives, and the impact they’ve made in just one year has been incredibly impressive. We are fully aligned to their vision for transforming youth sports for the better by investing in the fields, spaces and events where memories are made, friendships are formed and life lessons are instilled. We look forward to working together to create more sports experiences that build fun, excitement and community in the moment, and that have lasting impact over a lifetime.”

Unrivaled Sports will leverage this new partnership and investments to:

Expand access to more young athletes and their families across the country by further acquiring, building and diversifying destinations and programming that deliver unrivaled experiences to girls and boys of all ages.
Elevate experiences by further investing in upgrading the fields of play, programming and athlete experiences from quality officiating to facilities and services that support the athlete and their fans.
Increase amenities across all Unrivaled Sports properties such as lodging, food and beverage, and retail to better serve guests and foster community.

Unrivaled Sports operates a growing portfolio of iconic youth sports destinations and programming — including Cooperstown All Star Village, Ripken Baseball Experiences, Rocker B Ranch, Diamond Nation, Unrivaled Flag, and Under the Lights Flag Football, among others.

Over the past year, Unrivaled Sports has invested significantly in growing and elevating its experiences including:

Building a national footprint across 30 states through acquisition, now hosting over 600,000 young athletes and nearly 2 million family members and fans.
Meaningfully enhancing capacity and experiences at owned properties, including:
- Expanding bunk lodging in the Players Village and upgrading fields at Cooperstown All Star Village to increase weekly team capacity, while also upgrading the design and amenities across the entire property. Cooperstown All Star Village will set another consecutive record high in annual attendance in 2025.
- Re-turfing and building new fields across flagship properties and regional facilities including Rocker B Ranch (TX), Diamond Nation (NJ), and more.
- Investing in a multi-million dollar renovation and enhancement of West Coast properties, Big League Dreams Las Vegas and Big League Dreams Manteca.
Growing flag football by significantly increasing participation — over 30% in the last year alone — for both girls and boys through the national flag football league Under the Lights. Unrivaled Sports also hosted the Youth Flag World Championship at Disney which featured 715 teams, including 220 girls’ teams and 100+ international teams. This summer, Unrivaled Sports will host two major national flag football events: the Unrivaled Flag High School Girls Nationals and the NFL Flag Championship at the Unrivaled Sports’ ForeverLawn Complex in Canton, Ohio.

Additionally, Unrivaled Sports is committed to continuing to grow sports participation and expand access for underserved young athletes. With much more to come, Unrivaled Sports is proud of the impact Ripken Baseball has made to-date, from hosting free clinics nationwide to providing scholarships and free tournament access to young athletes and teams in underserved communities across the country.

David Blitzer and Josh Harris who co-founded and maintain majority ownership of Unrivaled Sports along with existing investor, TCG, welcome new minority investors DSG Ventures, Dynasty Equity, LionTree and Miller Sports & Entertainment — partners who believe in helping Unrivaled Sports deliver on its long-term vision for youth sports.

About Unrivaled Sports
Unrivaled Sports, the nation’s leader in youth sports experiences, delivers best-in-class experiences for young athletes, their families and communities through a diverse set of brands across youth sports venues, properties and programming. Unrivaled Sports has welcomed some of the most iconic names in youth sports into its growing family of brands including Cooperstown All Star Village, Ripken Baseball Experiences, Rocker B Ranch, Diamond Nation, Unrivaled Flag, We Are Camp action sports camp and more. From hosting destination tournaments to powering hometown leagues, Unrivaled Sports is committed to delivering formative, memory-making experiences to hundreds of thousands of young athletes and their families across the country. Learn more at unrivaledsports.com @unrivaled.sports.

About DICK’S Sporting Goods
DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) creates confidence and excitement by inspiring, supporting and personally equipping all athletes to achieve their dreams. Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, the leading omnichannel retailer serves athletes and outdoor enthusiasts in more than 850 DICK’S Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Public Lands and Going Going Gone! stores, online, and through the DICK’S mobile app. DICK’S also owns and operates DICK’S House of Sport and Golf Galaxy Performance Center, as well as GameChanger, a youth sports mobile platform for live streaming, scheduling, communications and scorekeeping.

Driven by its belief that sports have the power to change lives, DICK’S has been a longtime champion for youth sports and, together with its Foundation, has donated millions of dollars to support under-resourced teams and athletes through the Sports Matter program and other community-based initiatives. Additional information about DICK’S business, corporate giving and employment opportunities can be found on dicks.com, investors.dicks.com, sportsmatter.org, dickssportinggoods.jobs and on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X.

About Dynasty Equity
Dynasty Equity is a global sports investment firm, co-founded and led by Jonathan M. Nelson and K. Don Cornwell, focused on strategic investments across the sports ecosystem in assets that are resilient, compelling, and differentiated. Dynasty’s founders have deep expertise in sector specific private equity and long histories in the business of sports, media, and entertainment. Integral to Dynasty’s investment approach is a commitment to enduring partnerships. For more information, visit www.DynastyEquity.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.

About LionTree
LionTree is a global investment and merchant banking firm focused on the media, technology, telecom and consumer sectors. Founded in 2012, LionTree works across offices in New York, San Francisco, and London to serve our clients and community through strategic M&A, capital raising, and investments across the globe that capture opportunity and provide best-in-class execution. Since its formation, the Firm has advised on over $850 billion in transactions by bringing capital together with ideas, investing in and alongside our relationships to accelerate growth and innovation. LionTree invests minority, non-controlling capital in partnership with leading, long-term investors and provides additional value through our relationships, sector and thematic expertise and transaction capabilities. LionTree and its affiliates have active principal investments in early venture, growth, and mature companies across key sectors of the digital economy.

About TCG
The Chernin Group (TCG) is a preeminent growth equity firm investing in sports, media and passion-driven businesses. TCG partners with exceptional founders and management teams to grow and optimize market-leading brands in specific consumer categories with passionate followings. The firm leverages decades of operating experience and deep connectivity to the media, sports and technology ecosystems in service of its portfolio companies.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unrivaled-sports-announces-dicks-sporting-goods-as-new-strategic-investor-in-growing-and-elevating-youth-sports-experiences-302447074.html

SOURCE Unrivaled Sports

Link

4

Rec Sports

Unrivaled Sports Announces DICK’S Sporting Goods as New Strategic Investor in Growing and Elevating Youth Sports Experiences |

DICK’S led the $120M round of investment, obtaining a minority stake alongside other new investors Dynasty Equity, LionTree, Miller Sports & Entertainment and existing investor The Chernin Group (TCG) NEW YORK, May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Unrivaled Sports, the nation’s leader in youth sports experiences, today announced a strategic investment by DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE: […]

Published

2 hours ago

on

May 6, 2025

By

Your Sports Nation

DICK’S led the $120M round of investment, obtaining a minority stake alongside other new investors Dynasty Equity, LionTree, Miller Sports & Entertainment and existing investor The Chernin Group (TCG)

NEW YORK, May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Unrivaled Sports, the nation’s leader in youth sports experiences, today announced a strategic investment by DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), which led the company’s latest funding round. The strategic investment will help fuel Unrivaled Sports’ mission — to create unrivaled sport experiences for young athletes everywhere — by continuing to deliver and expand best-in-class experiences, programs and destinations for young athletes across the nation.

“DICK’S Sporting Goods has become the undisputed leader in serving young athletes as they gear up to play the sports they love. Their mission-driven approach to youth sports has been at the center of their ecosystem, from their early days as a small family business to their growth into the nation’s leading sporting goods retailer to the grants they provide to youth programs through the Sports Matter initiative, and now, their partnership with us at Unrivaled Sports,” said Unrivaled Sports Chairman & CEO Andy Campion. “We are thrilled to build the future of youth sports together with DICK’S Sporting Goods, and with the support of our other new strategic partners.”

Unrivaled Sports and DICK’S Sporting Goods coming together marks the powerful alignment of two organizations committed to creating experiences and environments that unlock the magic of youth sports and create lifelong memories for girls and boys of all ages and their families. The investment comes from DSG Ventures, the corporate venture capital fund of DICK’S.

“We’re incredibly excited to invest in and partner with Unrivaled Sports,” said Michael Stack, Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development at DICK’S Sporting Goods. “They share our core belief that sports have the power to change lives, and the impact they’ve made in just one year has been incredibly impressive. We are fully aligned to their vision for transforming youth sports for the better by investing in the fields, spaces and events where memories are made, friendships are formed and life lessons are instilled. We look forward to working together to create more sports experiences that build fun, excitement and community in the moment, and that have lasting impact over a lifetime.”

Unrivaled Sports will leverage this new partnership and investments to:

Expand access to more young athletes and their families across the country by further acquiring, building and diversifying destinations and programming that deliver unrivaled experiences to girls and boys of all ages.
Elevate experiences by further investing in upgrading the fields of play, programming and athlete experiences from quality officiating to facilities and services that support the athlete and their fans.
Increase amenities across all Unrivaled Sports properties such as lodging, food and beverage, and retail to better serve guests and foster community.

Unrivaled Sports operates a growing portfolio of iconic youth sports destinations and programming — including Cooperstown All Star Village, Ripken Baseball Experiences, Rocker B Ranch, Diamond Nation, Unrivaled Flag, and Under the Lights Flag Football, among others.

Over the past year, Unrivaled Sports has invested significantly in growing and elevating its experiences including:

Building a national footprint across 30 states through acquisition, now hosting over 600,000 young athletes and nearly 2 million family members and fans.
Meaningfully enhancing capacity and experiences at owned properties, including:
- Expanding bunk lodging in the Players Village and upgrading fields at Cooperstown All Star Village to increase weekly team capacity, while also upgrading the design and amenities across the entire property. Cooperstown All Star Village will set another consecutive record high in annual attendance in 2025.
- Re-turfing and building new fields across flagship properties and regional facilities including Rocker B Ranch (TX), Diamond Nation (NJ), and more.
- Investing in a multi-million dollar renovation and enhancement of West Coast properties, Big League Dreams Las Vegas and Big League Dreams Manteca.
Growing flag football by significantly increasing participation — over 30% in the last year alone — for both girls and boys through the national flag football league Under the Lights. Unrivaled Sports also hosted the Youth Flag World Championship at Disney which featured 715 teams, including 220 girls’ teams and 100+ international teams. This summer, Unrivaled Sports will host two major national flag football events: the Unrivaled Flag High School Girls Nationals and the NFL Flag Championship at the Unrivaled Sports’ ForeverLawn Complex in Canton, Ohio.

Additionally, Unrivaled Sports is committed to continuing to grow sports participation and expand access for underserved young athletes. With much more to come, Unrivaled Sports is proud of the impact Ripken Baseball has made to-date, from hosting free clinics nationwide to providing scholarships and free tournament access to young athletes and teams in underserved communities across the country.

David Blitzer and Josh Harris who co-founded and maintain majority ownership of Unrivaled Sports along with existing investor, TCG, welcome new minority investors DSG Ventures, Dynasty Equity, LionTree and Miller Sports & Entertainment — partners who believe in helping Unrivaled Sports deliver on its long-term vision for youth sports.

About Unrivaled Sports

Unrivaled Sports, the nation’s leader in youth sports experiences, delivers best-in-class experiences for young athletes, their families and communities through a diverse set of brands across youth sports venues, properties and programming. Unrivaled Sports has welcomed some of the most iconic names in youth sports into its growing family of brands including Cooperstown All Star Village, Ripken Baseball Experiences, Rocker B Ranch, Diamond Nation, Unrivaled Flag, We Are Camp action sports camp and more. From hosting destination tournaments to powering hometown leagues, Unrivaled Sports is committed to delivering formative, memory-making experiences to hundreds of thousands of young athletes and their families across the country. Learn more at unrivaledsports.com @unrivaled.sports.

About DICK’S Sporting Goods

DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) creates confidence and excitement by inspiring, supporting and personally equipping all athletes to achieve their dreams. Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, the leading omnichannel retailer serves athletes and outdoor enthusiasts in more than 850 DICK’S Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Public Lands and Going Going Gone! stores, online, and through the DICK’S mobile app. DICK’S also owns and operates DICK’S House of Sport and Golf Galaxy Performance Center, as well as GameChanger, a youth sports mobile platform for live streaming, scheduling, communications and scorekeeping.

Driven by its belief that sports have the power to change lives, DICK’S has been a longtime champion for youth sports and, together with its Foundation, has donated millions of dollars to support under-resourced teams and athletes through the Sports Matter program and other community-based initiatives. Additional information about DICK’S business, corporate giving and employment opportunities can be found on dicks.com, investors.dicks.com, sportsmatter.org, dickssportinggoods.jobs and on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X.

About Dynasty Equity

Dynasty Equity is a global sports investment firm, co-founded and led by Jonathan M. Nelson and K. Don Cornwell, focused on strategic investments across the sports ecosystem in assets that are resilient, compelling, and differentiated. Dynasty’s founders have deep expertise in sector specific private equity and long histories in the business of sports, media, and entertainment. Integral to Dynasty’s investment approach is a commitment to enduring partnerships. For more information, visit www.DynastyEquity.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.

About LionTree

LionTree is a global investment and merchant banking firm focused on the media, technology, telecom and consumer sectors. Founded in 2012, LionTree works across offices in New York, San Francisco, and London to serve our clients and community through strategic M&A, capital raising, and investments across the globe that capture opportunity and provide best-in-class execution. Since its formation, the Firm has advised on over $850 billion in transactions by bringing capital together with ideas, investing in and alongside our relationships to accelerate growth and innovation. LionTree invests minority, non-controlling capital in partnership with leading, long-term investors and provides additional value through our relationships, sector and thematic expertise and transaction capabilities. LionTree and its affiliates have active principal investments in early venture, growth, and mature companies across key sectors of the digital economy.

About TCG

The Chernin Group (TCG) is a preeminent growth equity firm investing in sports, media and passion-driven businesses. TCG partners with exceptional founders and management teams to grow and optimize market-leading brands in specific consumer categories with passionate followings. The firm leverages decades of operating experience and deep connectivity to the media, sports and technology ecosystems in service of its portfolio companies.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/unrivaled-sports-announces-dicks-sporting-goods-as-new-strategic-investor-in-growing-and-elevating-youth-sports-experiences-302447074.html

SOURCE Unrivaled Sports

Link

4

YSN

Deputies investigating incident that caused panic at Pace youth sports complex

You may like

Leave a Reply Cancel reply