What Is Stay In The Game’s Purpose?

To encourage and assist grade, middle and high school amateur athletes, specifically inner-city high school students to remain in school until completion of their individual academic goals. During the first year of the organization’s operation, we realized that there were many amateur athletes who performed well during his/her four-year high school career but lost their eligibility to participate in high school sports activities and at the same time, did not complete academic requirements to graduate. This group became the “high school drop outs.” Helping this “at risk “amateur athlete to stay in school became the major focus of Stay In The Game’s mission. Many of our youth will be first generation college students. The collaborations seek to identify potential college bound students early in their school years and to give exposure to non-traditional career options, the collegiate environment and seeks to teach them processes for gaining admission to a college or university.

How Long Has The Program Existed?

The program was started in 1993 with 22 students and at-risk high school athletes from Milwaukee, WI and Chicago, IL. Since that time the program has worked with hundreds of students and helped more than 150 attend a college or university.

Who Are The Students?

There are 65 male students in the program.  These student range in age between 10 – 19 years old.  Many of our students live in Milwaukee’s central city and attend MPS schools.

Who Works With The Students?

Our volunteer coaches are college graduates and former collegiate basketball players. Several of the coaches have NBA, college, high school and middle school coaching experience. Their background has allowed them to identify needs for the target population and the motivators for getting the youth engaged in our programs. Our staff is family-oriented and several hold positions of leadership in their professional lives and other community organizations.