FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – Community organizations teamed up to bring awareness to youth violence Friday, and they’re doing it with a slam dunk!

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne is taking a new approach to bring awareness to the issue of youth violence.

It is playing the classic game of basketball with a “Don’t Shoot, Hoop” event.

“Through sports, we give them a gateway to just come here and engage with others, not be in the streets,” said Jalik Jelks, Athletic Director at Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne.

Teens from all over the area made their way to the organization’s gym.

“The Boys and Girls Clubs is really great to come to,” said Giahnni Sparks, a member of the organization. “You kinda get to do everything.”

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne teamed up with other community organizations focused on the younger generation, including City Life and Youth For Christ.

There was even a special appearance by Mayor Sharon Tucker.

“I wanted to come in tonight to show my support and not only for the non-profits, but to also show my support for the kids,” said Tucker.

So far this year, when it comes to homicides in Fort Wayne, 14 teenagers, 18 and under, have been involved as either a suspect or a victim.

The “Don’t Shoot, Hoop” event will return to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne on Friday, August 1, from 9 to 11 p.m.

Copyright 2025 WPTA. All rights reserved.

This webinar will take place Tuesday, August 19, at 2 p.m. ET. To register, click below:

Webinar Description:

Youth sports proved their sustainable power during the pandemic and their rise only continues. But what does your event and destination need to be aware of that to position your organization for further success? In this webinar, join the president of one of the nation’s largest youth sports organizations, an industry veteran of events large and small, and a destination leader who has found success attracting events in a roundtable discussion of where the youth sports industry is headed. And come prepared with your own questions to make sure you are staying on top of where the industry is going next.

Participants:

Glen Allen
Vice President of Sports and Entertainment
Visit Lauderdale

Glen Allen joined Visit Lauderdale in 2023 as the vice president of sports and entertainment. He has over 14 years of experience in sports tourism, having previously worked with the Palm Beach County Sports Commission and Central Florida Sports Commission (now Greater Orlando Sports Commission). In his current role, he oversees the sports and entertainment department, which features four teammates whose role is to recruit, develop and cultivate event opportunities for Broward County. He also leads Visit Lauderdale’s efforts with developing sports marketing partnerships with opportunities including the Florida Panthers, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Meyer Shank Racing among others.

Megan Ditchman
Business Development Senior Manager
Global Sports Experiences

Megan Ditchman has 14 years of experience in soccer event management, currently serving as business development senior manager for Global Sports Experiences. She previously worked 13 years for Elite Tournaments in a variety of roles including senior vice president of marketing and partnerships. Throughout her career she has worked on youth events and professional match promotion, organizing international events for world class brands and creating unforgettable experiences for teams and fans alike.
 

Jo Mirza
President
AAU

Jo Mirza, the 49th president of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), has dedicated more than five decades of service to the AAU at the local, national and international levels. Mirza got his start in AAU as an athlete in the sport of karate in 1972, competing in the Central AAU Association (now District), though he’s been a student of martial arts since 1967. His roles with the AAU have been many throughout the years, including AAU Karate National Chair, District AAU Governor (Central and Florida Gold Coast), and District Lieutenant Governor (Central) as well as instructor, official, and dedicated volunteer. In 1987, President Mirza was recognized for his many efforts on behalf of the AAU Karate program, winning election as AAU Karate National Chair and being named the AAU Junior Olympic Games Karate Chairman, positions he has held ever since. He has been a member of the AAU Board of Directors since 1994.

Moderator:
Matt Traub
Editor
SportsTravel

Matt Traub is the editor for SportsTravel, focusing on the magazine’s content, digital and social media strategies. Before joining SportsTravel in 2019, he worked in sports departments at several newspapers across the United States, most recently as the assistant sports editor at the Salt Lake Tribune. Under his leadership, the organization grew digital audience around the region’s most-loved topics: the Olympics, the Utah Jazz and college football. He also was in charge of sports departments at newspapers in New York, Pennsylvania and South Carolina that were repeatedly recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as a Top 10 section nationally with coverage of everything from the Little League World Series to Southeastern Conference football.
 

Sponsored by:

Mercy,  one of the 15 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation’s largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including 50 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 1,000 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 5,000 physicians and advanced practitioners and more than 50,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2024 alone, Mercy provided nearly half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits, including traditional charity care and unreimbursed Medicaid.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – For the first time ever, the top safety agency in sports is weighing in on what will keep kids below the high school level safe when playing football.

It’s the answer a lot of families have been looking for.

The National Operating Committee on Standards for athletic equipment or NOCSAE, finalized football helmet standards, specifically for players ages nine through twelve, and sometimes up to fourteen.

Their discussion continued at a Friday afternoon meeting at the Loews Hotel.

Its criteria include:

• Designed for youth players below the high school level.
• Tailored to the unique risk exposures of this age group, including frequency, type, location and magnitude of head impacts, which are influenced by player age, size, speed and coordination.
• For helmets tested on small headforms, helmet mass cannot exceed 3.5 pounds, including all accessories, attachments and facemask.
• Addresses injury thresholds and impact energies specific to youth football.
• Rotational acceleration during testing cannot exceed 5,000 rads/s² (radians per second squared).
• Testing is with a lighter pneumatic ram.

Overall, it addresses the unique risk exposures for this age group, which members of the committee said face different risks.

“Youths don’t sustain the amount of magnitude of impact as do adults. Most of the youth move pretty slowly compared to professional-level or even high school-level players. The impacts aren’t nearly as high,” said Dr. Robert Cantu, NOCSAE Vice President and Chair, NOCSAE Scientific Advisory Committee.

The NOCSAE performance standard for youth football helmets (ND006) is designed specifically for players below the high school level. The new standard directly addresses unique risk exposures for youth football players, which differ significantly from those at or above the high school level.

The primary differences in exposure at the youth level include the frequency, type, location and magnitude of head impacts. All these factors are influenced by the player’s age, size, speed and coordination.

Mike Oliver, Executive Director Emeritus, said he played football at those ages. While they do not encourage tackle football for kids in that age group, he said his agency has been working and testing the technology to ensure its accuracy.

“I played at that age. I started playing at that very age. I got my helmet at Sears I have no idea what it meant. But there’s another aspect for me which is important. That is, that’s the largest group of kids playing tackle football,” he said. “Their bodies aren’t as mature. You want to limit how heavy the helmet can be. The way they hit their heads is different.”

The agency said to allow time for manufacturers to develop youth helmets that meet the standard, their standards committee set an effective date of March 1, 2027, for ND006.

Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.

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Photos by Amy Payne

In 1999, Drew Storen moved to Brownsburg with his family and got involved in Little League. It was there his life took a turn that would spark a career, a passion for a nonprofit, and a new business.

“I’ve always loved the game, but Brownsburg was a special place. It’s always been different. A team a year older than me and a year younger than me went to the World Series. It was a great group of talent and competition but also supportive parents, which is equally as important,” Storen said. “You played competitively against your buddies and then you came together to play against other teams.”

Storen went on to play for Brownsburg High School and was a member of the team that won the state championship in 2005.

“I think we were one of the first high schools with a fan section at baseball games. There was a great support system in the town. It’s really special and something you don’t see as much of anymore,” Storen said.

Right out of high school, the pitcher had opportunities in the Major League Baseball draft but chose to go to Stanford on a baseball scholarship and earn his degree in product design.

“I took the opportunity to get an education. I wanted baseball to be house money and not like my life depended on it, but after graduating, I was drafted to the Washington Nationals in 2009,” Storen said. “I went on to play for the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds before I retired in 2020.”

As a relief pitcher in MLB, Storen was living his dream — though he said he doesn’t know how he ever made it.

“I was lucky enough to get up there and have a career. I always wanted to do it, but I just kept my head down and kept playing,” he said.

When the MLB chapter was over, he had the chance to explore other passions too — namely, the nonprofit Brownsburg Youth Sports program.

Storen serves as chairman of the Project Campaign Cabinet. They’re working on developing a new youth sports complex that will feature 10 baseball and softball fields on 60 acres of land on the northeast side of Brownsburg.

The plans include a community walking path and playground space and, eventually, fields for other sports in the community.

When a friend asked Storen to get involved, they were in the beginning stages — not sure if it was going to happen.

“I really think this is something Brownsburg needs, and I think we’re coming up short as far as space for youth sports. To me, we were losing what really put Brownsburg on the map,” he said. “But we’re moving forward now.”

Looking back, he’s grateful for the time he spent in Brownsburg and everything Little League and high school baseball did for him — and now, he’s giving back.

“It was always on the radar — figuring out how to replace at least the main diamond in Brownsburg. I remember playing at Arbuckle Park as a kid. The place was always packed and not just with parents but people who came to watch our games,” Storen said. “This isn’t about the big business side of baseball. It’s tradition. You don’t have to be a major leaguer. You can be a kid that wants to go out and play and learn the game and make lifelong friends along with life lessons and growth as a person. This is important.”

He’s quick to point out, the youth sports complex is for everyone. For Storen, it’s also about green space, parks and places for the community to gather.

“This is not just about a baseball diamond. It’s another park in the community. Everyone will benefit. The diamond got the conversation started, but it’s really about having a place to go to play,” he said.

Today, in addition to coaching his two sons and pouring his energy into the development of Brownsburg Youth Sports and the future sports complex, Storen is co-founder of Field of Dreams Whiskey Co.

It’s a combination of Storen’s love for baseball, whiskey — he’s collected rare bourbons throughout his career — and the 1989 movie starring Kevin Costner, “Field of Dreams.”

“I take corn from the ‘Field of Dreams’ movie site in Dyersville, Iowa, and make bourbon. I used my project design degree to create the logo and partnered with my best childhood friend from Brownsburg Little League and another best friend from MLB and started the company,” Storen said.

The area is currently undergoing changes to further entice movie buffs and baseball fans.

“They had an MLB game there in 2021 with the White Sox and the Yankees. Now, it’s been put on pause because they’re building a permanent stadium, so hopefully, we’ll have more games in the next couple of years,” he said. “The field has always been maintained, and we work with the local farmers to harvest what we need for the bourbon. It’s sort of like combining all of my passions into one.”

In the process of it all coming together, he hopes others — particularly youth — find the passion for baseball or youth sports in general that he has had over the years.

“It’s extremely important for kids to be able to play with their friends. I think youth travel ball has turned into a professional sport pretty quickly, and it cuts some of these kids off from a great game and great life lessons,” he said. “We don’t want anyone to be shut out.”

For more information about Brownsburg Youth Sports and the future sports complex, visit brownsburgsports.org. For more about Field of Dreams Whiskey Co., visit drinkfieldofdreams.com.