From a Garage to a Mission

Sports give kids structure. They build confidence. They create community. They open doors that go far beyond the field. Playing sports has had a huge impact on my life. But more and more, access to those opportunities is being decided by cost. Across the country, youth sports participation costs have risen significantly as fees, travel, and equipment add up quickly. Families spend an estimated $40 billion each year on youth sports in the United States, and 75% say they are considering removing their kids from sports because of rising costs.

For many families, especially in rural, small-town, and underserved communities, hundreds to thousands of dollars in club fees, tournaments, travel, and equipment make participation impossible. And when access to sports disappears, the lifelong benefits and opportunities that come with playing disappear too.

This is personal to me. I have been playing sports since I was three years old, and nearly all of my family was raised in small, rural towns, including where I live and go to high school in rural Minnesota. I have heard these stories and have seen these issues firsthand.

I grew up playing sports with my older brother, and every year we would outgrow cleats, switch ball sizes, need bigger shin guards, and new uniforms. Gear would pile up in our garage, still in great condition, just outgrown or unused. I realized this was happening across the country. Quality gear sits in garages or ends up in landfills, while families struggle to afford rising sports participation costs. This sparked the idea for Gear to Grant.

In eighth grade, I started collecting donated sports gear, cleaning it, and getting it into the hands of kids who needed it. But I quickly realized gear alone was not enough. The bigger barrier for many families was everything around it: registration fees, team dues, and league costs.

So I set out to build something that could go further: a full cycle that converts unused sports equipment into access, funding, and opportunity for youth athletes. By reselling high-quality donated gear at affordable prices, Gear to Grant turns unused equipment into funding. That funding becomes microgrants for K–12 youth, helping cover additional costs of playing sports. We give gear a second life, reduce waste, and use it to create more opportunities for kids to step onto the field. I wanted to build a circular system that connects reuse with real access and opportunity.