We are a Colorado tax-exempt non-profit scholarship organization that provides financial assistance to young athletes from families with financial need so they can access competitive club sports programs and learn leadership and team-building skill that will benefit them on and off the athletic field.
Our name says what we all know to be true. If you give someone a chance, an opportunity, a level playing field, hope… you can change the world. Our mission started as all dreams do: with a need. As community leaders we’ve watched kids get excluded from the benefits of competitive sports based on a lack of disposable income. And we knew that we had an opportunity to make a difference that could shape not only community courts, fields, diamonds, and tracks but neighborhoods, schools, communities, cities, and our state
Our mission is simple: To provide student-athletes with the financial support to access competitive club sports, and to learn leadership and teambuilding skills that will benefit them on and off the athletic field.
To understand our mission, you have to understand our philosophy. Together, we’re bringing down the barrier of entry for families to give their children the opportunity to get to an elite level of athletics, and in return, the hope is that our investment will create dividends – a ripple effect – with these same young athletes becoming leaders that will grow and succeed and give back in the future.
We’re giving people a chance – a golden ticket – removing financial barriers to hard working, dedicated, and prepared young boys and girls, increasing the probability that they will win the game of sports (and life).
You ask, why me? We ask, why not you?
We know that life is full of challenges, and we believe that those challenges make us stronger if we know what to do with them. Our purpose is to give you a community to help you build on those challenges, become stronger and better because of them, and cheer you on every step of the way.
We know that just because we’re on different teams, doesn’t mean we can’t all work toward the same common goal and from the same set of ideals and beliefs to lift each other up.
Community and business leaders aligned on the simple idea of giving kids a chance to play and excel.
Building on the success stories of so many professionals athletes whose lives were changed through opportunities that athletics provided.
Top athlete endorsements, paying it forward to give low-income student athletes the opportunity to excel in athletics, education, health, community, and future civic leadership.
See a Problem, Create a Solution
Father, husband and State Senator James Coleman has spent his career working to make Colorado a better place for his friends, family, neighbors, and fellow citizens. When not representing his community in the State Senate, James can most often be found supporting his son and daughter as the complete in basketball and track and field respectively.
Early morning workouts, practice most nights after school, and travel tournaments during weekends and throughout the summer—this is the life of a young competitive athlete and their family. It’s an all-in commitment.
But James saw a problem: The cost of these competitive, travel clubs—from club fees, to travel, to equipment, to extra coaching—puts this life-changing opportunity out of reach for too many families. This doesn’t just impact the kids who don’t get to play, it impacts every player and the overall strength of the team as talented athletes are left on the sidelines not because of a lack of will or talent, but because of a lack of financial resources.
So, as is James’s nature, after seeing the problem, he envisioned the solution: provide scholarships to families with financial need to allow a more diverse range of participation and opportunity and to elevate the discussion about youth sports as a gateway to future education, engaged citizenship, and community leadership.
Leveling the Playing Field
James knows personally what an impact a scholarship can make, having received a need-based education scholarship himself in grades 7-12. Because of his experience, he went on to volunteer (and later work) to pay that experience forward—something he’s still actively committed to as a legislator. The vision for Chance Sports is a product of his first-hand experience as a student athlete, and that of his children, as a parent and leader.
It struck a nerve with James that while sports have long been a great equalizer, modern changes to the cost to play are building new barriers to entry even as we’re tearing down old ones. The mission with Chance Sports is to level the playing field, to open doors that have been closed due to a lack of financial resources so those with the drive and talent can to compete. They bring the preparation and we bring the opportunity.
Opportunity Meets Preparation
When you give people the great equalizer of opportunity (a chance), people that have different views and backgrounds and life experiences can all come together, stronger, leveling the playing field literally, and giving every kid and every parent a golden opportunity at a stronger foundation in both academics and athletics. So many professional athletes tell incredible underdog stories speaking to how athletics provided a ticket – a chance they wouldn’t have had otherwise – to attend college… And how that ticket ended up being an invitation to an entirely different and better life for them and their families.
The legislators are proud to partner for social impact, and to be able to use their bipartisan influence and networks to amplify and invest in creating opportunities for often under-represented children and families. They have united to unlock potential in, and uplift, student athletes who have all of the qualifications, preparation, dedication, and hard work – and to connect them with a life-changing chance.
Together, we win. We not only believe that, but are committed to putting it into action, one student athlete at a time. We hope you’ll join us.