Help kickstart Amanda’s Nonprofit!

I would like to announce that I am the President of a Nonprofit Organization that I’ve recently formed called VolleyStar VB Academy. We are in the beginning stages of filling out paperwork with the help of our legal team (sounds so grown doesn’t it), setting up social media accounts, and hosting trainings - with this past Friday being our first one! (Yay) For my birthday I am asking that you please donate to my fundraiser kickstarter! The idea to start a nonprofit was born out of a need that I’ve felt has been growing ever since I played club volleyball more than 10 years ago. And that need is to somehow drastically reduce the amount of money that parents are spending on club volleyball. Unfortunately, to get quality coaching and high level training in our sport, families are looking at spending thousands of dollars each year on club dues. Personally, I believe cost shouldn’t be a barrier to participation for girls that want to play volleyball. Too often, it’s minorities and girls that are from lower socioeconomic backgrounds that miss out on the experiences that volleyball has to offer. Club volleyball is insanely expensive, which means that whole demographics of young girls that could be really, REALLY good, don’t have the same opportunities as other girls who happen to have been born into a better socioeconomic background. Those that know me know that I’ve always felt that on some level, it’s ethically wrong to charge kids thousands of dollars to play a sport, when at the end of the day sports should be the biggest equalizer among people from all walks of life. The trend of club volleyball getting more expensive each year isn’t going to change anytime soon - so, instead of complaining about it when I’m out with coaching friends, or expecting USAV to take the lead on this issue (which I still believe hasn’t been given appropriate attention on the national stage) I decided to start my own club that will operate as a nonprofit organization, with the goal of providing high quality training to athletes of all backgrounds at an affordable cost. The main way that this will be sustainable is through donations. At first those donations will come from friends, family, and coworkers, but then eventually from companies and sponsors that believe in the cause that we are promoting. I am asking that for my birthday, you donate to my new (and when I say new - I mean reallyyyy new) nonprofit! We have already spent some money on upfront costs, and would love to cover those costs as well as have some donations on hand for our first initial expenses that we will incur. It would mean so much if you would donate to help make my dream of providing qualify coaching at an affordable cost to girls from all walks of life!