Hello, my name is Marin Leonard. I am a 15 year-old freshman at Grant High School and I play starting point guard for our Women's basketball team. We're the best women's team in Portland and are first in our division. My mom has been raising my brother and I by herself for the last 5 years. She's worked extremely hard to provide us with everything that we need, even when it meant she had to give up things for herself so my brother and I could play basketball. My brother was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, the same time our father walked out of our lives. Basketball was the one constant in his life and it has become mine as well. Graduating with a 3.9, he's on a full ride basketball scholarship to Cal State University San Bernardino. I too, have high aspirations to play D1 college basketball. Yesterday I was acknowledged in Oregon Live as one of the top freshman basketball players in the state. I have 3 elite teams that want me to play for them; this is where I would gain an opportunity for myself to be scouted for college. Today we found out the cost to play on an elite team would be $4,800. I'm sure my mom is thinking of every possible way to come up with the money, but the reality is SHE DOES NOT HAVE IT. Even a $5 contribution is appreciated. To be able to play on one of these teams in hope that one day I might be playing D1 college basketball would mean the world to me.
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2016/02/girls_basketball_freshmen_maki.html#14