Fox Sports Helps Restore Play For Youth Organizations In Honor Of Jackie Robinson Day

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Published on April 15, 2021, 12:00 am
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Today, FOX Sports announces the donation of $42,000 in new baseball and softball gear and athletic apparel to youth organizations in Los Angeles and New York City in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. Recognized by Major League Baseball (MLB) since 2004, Jackie Robinson Day, April 15, commemorates the day of his MLB debut back in 1947.

The donation – a nod to Jackie’s jersey number 42 – enables kids in his hometown, Los Angeles, and city where he played professionally, New York, to follow in his footsteps by creating access to the sport in which he broke the color line in 1947. The Boys & Girls Club of the Foothills in Los Angeles, Urban Youth Initiative in the Bronx and Central Brooklyn Youth Sports in Brooklyn will use the donated gear to provide baseball and softball programs for the children they serve.

“In the spirit of Jackie Robinson Day, we are proud to be able to offer new baseball and softball programs this spring to kids from diverse backgrounds who may not otherwise have had the opportunity,” said Boys & Girls Club of the Foothills Executive Director John Wilson. “We are so grateful to FOX Sports and Good Sports for helping to make this happen for our kids.”

The donations help reduce financial barriers to play for underserved youth and include bats, helmets, fielding gloves, batting gloves, catching gear, pitch returns, cleats, jerseys and other necessary gear. The equipment and apparel also support each organization’s ability to provide socially distanced programming for their members as they continue to resume in-person activities.

“When I learned FOX Sports was going to help our baseball and softball programs with a generous gift of equipment, I was almost reluctant to believe it,” said Urban Youth Initiative Executive Director Julian Forbes. “The youth that will benefit from this have expressed overwhelming joy and appreciation and I look forward to bringing the gift of sports to many of the Bronx’s deserving youth.”

The donated equipment and apparel are part of FOX Sports’ ongoing support of the Restore Play initiative with national nonprofit partner Good Sports. Restore Play aims to keep kids active and engaged in sports throughout the pandemic by providing at least $15 million in sports and fitness gear to thousands of youth organizations and children across the country who have endured significant setbacks due to CoViD-19.

To help FOX Sports and Good Sports keep kids active and in the game through Restore Play, please visit here.

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About Restore Play

For 17 years, Good Sports’ focus has been giving more kids the opportunity to play by providing new sports equipment, footwear and apparel to those in need.

In the face of the crisis that CoViD-19 presents, the impact on access to youth sports and physical activity is unprecedented. Children from high-poverty communities who often rely on school physical education and after-school programming for active play, social interaction, and positive experiences are now facing some of the most challenging implications of this crisis in our society.

For our most vulnerable children, this crisis is not just an inconvenience, it can be traumatic.

Right now, sports and play look different, but that’s OK. This is why Good Sports has created our Restore Play campaign. As we emerge from this crisis, we must restore play for millions of children to bring back joy, community, and well-being to their lives as quickly as possible. Good Sports will address the major concerns of youth organizations across the country. Equipment donations will support a range of community needs: at-home play packs, physically distanced play and full sports programming.

Good Sports is well-positioned to restore play and help children overcome difficulties encountered during this time, having served as a critical partner for youth organizations across the country. With over 2,000 youth organizations in all 50 states already vetted and a developed supply chain of over 30 sporting goods partners, we are prepared to respond to this great need.

About Fox Sports

FOX Sports is the umbrella entity representing FOX Corporation’s wide array of multi-platform US-based sports assets. Built with brands capable of reaching more than 100 million viewers in a single weekend, the business has ownership and interests in linear television networks, digital and mobile programming, broadband platforms, multiple web sites, joint-venture businesses and several licensing relationships. FOX Sports includes the sports television arm of the FOX Network; FS1, FS2, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes. FOX Sports’ digital properties include FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports App, which provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content, instant scores, stats and alerts to iOS and Android devices. Additionally, FOX Sports and social broadcasting platform Caffeine jointly own Caffeine Studios which creates exclusive eSports, sports and live entertainment content. Also included in FOX Sports’ portfolio are FOX’s interests in joint-venture business Big Ten Network, a licensing and commercial relationship with The Stars Group that created the FOX Bet sports betting platform and the FOX Bet Super 6 free-to-play game, as well as a licensing agreement that established the FOX Sports Radio Network.

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.