Through MaxOne and gearUP Partnership, Elephant Soccer Club of Harlem Helps Young Athletes Feel Like Champions

NEW YORK, Oct. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Elephant Soccer Club of Harlem was launched with a simple yet serious conviction: A belief that all children who love soccer deserve the opportunity not just to play, but to reach their full potential. Since its inception in 2005, the club has provided competitive sports to young athletes throughout the Harlem area, focusing on kids and adolescents who live in underserved communities and have fewer opportunities for scholastic or recreational play. Now, thanks to strategic partnerships with companies like gearUP and MaxOne, Elephant Soccer Club of Harlem has taken the youth sports experience to the next level, providing its players with the chance to look and feel like all-stars.

"We have always believed that kids who are drawn toward the great sport of soccer should have every opportunity on and off the field to play, to push themselves competitively, and to develop skills that will last a lifetime," comments Jay Block, Director of Strategy Partnerships and Communications. "Thanks to our generous collaborators, we can now add to that list: We give our players the opportunity to truly feel like they are professional soccer stars."

Particularly noteworthy is a collaboration with gearUP, a company well-known for its excellence in custom youth sports uniforms and fan gear. The gearUP team donated Nike soccer kits to the Elephant Soccer Club program, each one adorned with the Club's logos and graphics. This donation ensured that every athlete involved with the Club was able to wear a premier, custom-made jersey during every game.

"We provide kits to any athlete who is unable to afford their own, and historically these kits have come from low-quality brands that nobody's ever heard of," notes Block. "When our athletes put on these Nike uniforms, their faces lit up as if it was Christmas morning. It was as if they had just been given a pair of Nike Air Force Ones. In a word, these uniforms made them feel like champions."

According to gearUP's CEO, Mac Lavier, this is exactly what gearUP is all about. "We are big believers in the value of youth sports, and we know that uniforms and brands really do matter," comments Lavier. "Every young athlete deserves to feel like their favorite all-stars, and we're glad we were able to make that happen for the athletes in the Elephant soccer program."

The collaboration with gearUP came about through another connection: MaxOne, a digital coaching platform that generously donated its services to the Elephant Soccer Club of Harlem. "They've helped us by providing our athletes with access to incredible coaches and development opportunities; combined with the new kits, our athletes have really started to feel like they have the opportunity to excel," says Block. "MaxOne not only donated their platform, but they facilitated our relationship with gearUP. We couldn't be more grateful."

"My colleagues and I were inspired by Jay's vision to provide value to the club's membership. From the onset of our discussions, it was clear that Jay wanted to be innovative, providing tools such as the MaxOne Digital Coaching Platform, so that the club's coaches could use digital tools to heighten engagement between coaches and players and their families. With MaxOne's mobile app coaches are able to deliver skills & drills, conditioning workouts and education programming directly to a player's mobile phone all with the intent of supplementing and enhancing," said Todd Grant, MaxOne's Chief Revenue Officer.

The Elephant Soccer Club of Harlem enrolls anywhere from 60 to 80 kids each year, providing them with practices and games each week, including indoor and outdoor events depending on the season. The Club has a unique model that pushes athletes to play challenging opponents from a number of local leagues, truly developing their skills and their personal values. The approach has paid off: every season, the club finishes in the top of each league they participate in, and they have seen some of their players recruited to the country's top schools.

"Our coaching model, combined with these incredible kits from gearUP, instill in our athletes that they can be and do anything, while also showing them what it means to function as a unit," concludes Block. "For kids who live and breathe soccer, these are gifts of almost limitless value."

Additional information about the Elephant Soccer Club is available at https://www.elephantsoccerclubofharlem.com

Additional details about gearUP can be found at https://gearupwithus.com

Information about MaxOne can be obtained at https://maxone.ai

ABOUT MAXONE:
MaxOne's Digital Coaching Platform ('DCP') empowers athletes, coaches, club administrators, and parents with a digital solution to train, connect, and grow together, anywhere. Supplementing and enhancing in-person coaching, MaxOne's DCP features cutting edge training tools creating the most sophisticated and engaging on-demand digital training experience available. Programs are using the MaxOne DCP to be relevant in the daily lives of athletes 24 x 7 ensuring that the efforts to coach and mentor not only lead to performance improvement on the field of play, but build towards inspiring young adults to be Champions for Life.

ABOUT GEARUP:
gearUP is a leading provider of custom youth sports uniforms, delivering high-quality jerseys and apparel from leading brands like Nike. Their goal is to help coaches, club directors, and volunteers eliminate the need to collect payments and distribute uniforms so they can get back to investing their time in young athletes. Parents and athletes can log on to their team's webstore and stock up on the gear they need, anytime, anywhere. Orders are shipped Direct to Athlete, on time for game time!

Media Contact

Alex Valentine, gearUP, +1 9512333562, [email protected]

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