June 7th marked the sixth anniversary of the launch of MaxInMotion, and would have been my son Max Shacknai’s 13th birthday. With the support of our generous contributors, we have accomplished a great deal to benefit financially or physically challenged young athletes.
In Arizona, we have awarded nearly 8,500 scholarships based on demonstrated financial need, largely among young soccer and hockey players. We have also collaborated with Ability360, one of the nation’s leading adaptive sports facilities, to establish wheelchair sports leagues for young athletes with physical disabilities. MaxInMotion has directly sponsored these programs for 500 such challenged athletes. This work makes us especially proud.
There is little doubt that in Arizona, MaxInMotion has been one of the most significant forces supporting youth sports for those in need. We are excited to share the ideals of competitive athletics-involving personal fitness, self-discipline and team interdependency.
In 2017, MaxInMotion opened activities in Southern California under the direction of Hugo Salcedo, one of the world’s most accomplished youth development soccer coaches. We have been collaborating with 16 independent youth soccer leagues, largely in Latino areas of the San Fernando Valley, Inland Empire, Orange County and Central Los Angeles. Together, these leagues have 25,000 registered young athletes, most from financially challenged circumstances.
Our Southern California strategy goes well beyond awarding scholarships. We supply clinics for coaches, and importantly, academic guidance for our MaxInMotion elite athletes. We are helping them, and their families, understand college entrance requirements and providing tutoring where appropriate. In addition, we create opportunities to gain visibility for our players among college coaches who may offer scholarship opportunities. We have also organized campus visits to University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), University of California Irvine (UCI) and California State University Fullerton (CSUF) so that our youth athletes can tour the campuses and meet with students and university officials.
A MaxInMotion elite team will be competing in the International Champions Cup Youth International Soccer Tournament, to be held at the Disney Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. Ours is the only independent team in the US to be invited to this all-expenses paid tournament. MaxInMotion athletes will be competing against the youth divisions of Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and other elite teams from around the world. Exposure of our athletes to college scouts will be substantial, and the confidence building among our players as a result of this level of competition is enormous.
MaxInMotion’s elite U14 independent team traveling to compete in the International Champions Cup this summer.
As we continue to expand our activities, we need your help more than ever. 100% of the funds donated to us are invested directly in young athletes, making MaxInMotion an extremely efficient and impactful foundation. Will you help again and support life-changing opportunities for challenged boys and girls?
If you are able, please make a deductible contribution on our secure website donation page, or by sending a check payable to MaxInMotion Foundation to our offices at 3333 East Camelback Road, Suite 200, Phoenix, AZ 85018. Please note that we will be relocating to donated space at 3200 East Camelback Road, Suite 395, Phoenix, AZ 85018 on July 31, 2018.
Again, thank you so much for your past support and consideration of helping us further.
Warmly,
Jonah