Look who's pitching in

Pro teams and their stars give back to a District in need.

by Avi Wolfman-Arent

Photo: Mario Nascati

First baseman Ryan Howard of the Phillies was the center of attention when he announced his donation of sports apparel for Philadelphia high schools to an audience of students, city and District officials at City Hall December 1.

Midway through a year of austerity – lowlighted by a 70 percent reduction in funds for middle school sports – Robert Coleman, the District's executive director of the Office of Athletics, finally has good news.

"The train is coming in," Coleman says.

Coleman isn't speaking in metaphors.

The train is a commercial freight train that began its trek in Arizona – loaded with gear from a nearby Adidas outlet – and arrived in Philadelphia the final week of January. Its cargo included over $1.2 million in cleats, warm-ups, T-shirts, and the like, styled and color-coded for each of 57 Philadelphia high schools.

The new gear comes courtesy of Phillies' All-Star first baseman Ryan Howard and his Ryan Howard Family Foundation, which on December 1 announced the donation at a packed City Hall press conference.

In his remarks there, Howard acknowledged the District's financial woes, saying they were an impetus for the foundation's gift.

"When we look at the challenges the School District faces, it's important for us to be able to each … play our part," Howard said.

According to Coleman, Howard's donation is the single largest contribution the Office of Athletics has received in his eight years there.

The publication Education Weekwent as far as to say, "Ryan Howard may have just helped save youth sports in the Philadelphia school district."

Just as crucial as the size of the gift was the man giving it, a sports icon able to attract the media legions with one flash of his megawatt smile and cut through the gloom pervading a troubled school district.

When Coleman entered the Office of Athletics eight years ago, he says the department ran entirely on government revenue. Now, in his words, they "depend on outside contributions and partners."

The District's need has crossed paths with a growing field known here in America as sports philanthropy and described by Sports Illustrated in 2011 as "a burgeoning global movement." A report in the Sports Business Journal noted that the number of professional teams in the four major American sports leagues with charitable foundations ballooned from fewer than 20 in 1988 to more than 95 in 2009.

"Twenty or 30 years ago, the teams would just sell tickets and pay players," says Greg Johnson, the founder and executive director of the Sports Philanthropy Project, a national organization working to grow the sector. Today, the nation's sports teams are all-purpose marketing machines, and the growing sophistication and volume of their charity work reflects that. Same goes for players, whom Johnson likens to "mini-corporations that can mimic the assets the teams have."

In Philadelphia, this maturing largesse has resulted in new relationships between the sports community and a District strapped for funds.

The Hamels Foundation

No athlete-run organization better exemplifies that budding alliance than the Hamels Foundation.

Started in 2008 by Phillies' pitcher Cole Hamels and his wife Heidi, the foundation works in Philadelphia, Springfield, Mo. (Heidi's home town), and Malawi to help end poverty through educational advancement.

The Hamels' commitment to education has deep roots. Cole's father is an administrator in the San Diego area, his mother works as a teaching assistant, and Heidi started her professional life as a middle school teacher.

Kathy Dugas, the foundation's chief operating officer and mother to Heidi Hamels, says her daughter and son-in-law are in the philanthropy world for life.

"Long after [Cole's] career is over, the foundation will go on," Dugas says.

Last year the foundation awarded 17 grants to District schools worth a combined $205,000. The money went toward what Dugas calls "sustainable projects," which included everything from new libraries to community gardens to fitness rooms.