SPORTS

 

On December 1 a short, roughly 1-minute video, premiered on the Davidson Wildcats Facebook page. Social media appears to be the only place that the big news was announced.

The video starts with a video mash up of clips of senior men’s and women’s scholar-athletes Kellan Grady (#31) and Katie Turner (#1). Additional footage features both the men’s and women’s teams on their respective practice courts.

The first spoken words come from men’s coach Bob McKillop.

“As you know, yesterday we spoke about gratitude. And I think just looking at what you are wearing right now gives you a constant reminder that the spirit of Stephen Curry is with this program at all times.”

Then women’s coach Gayle Fulks says, “This year Stephen Curry is kind of stepping aside and having his own brand with Under Armor, and he wanted to make sure that Davidson men’s and women’s basketball were the first two teams to be representing his gear.”

Back to Bob McKillop, “we are very pleased to announce that Stephen’s generosity is giving us an opportunity to be the first Stephen Curry brand school in America. An incredible gift from him.”

Fulks follows up, “whether from his shoes all the way up to his jerseys – we are going to be the only teams in his stuff all season long. Pretty cool. Pretty unique opportunity for us.”

 

 

The official press release from Under Armour was released on November 30 and focused on the philanthropic aspect of the brand.

Stephen Curry and Under Armour Launch the Curry Brand, Aimed to Change The Game For Good 

Curry Brand, Powered by Under Armour, Aims to Reach 100K Youth Athletes Globally by 2025.

Stephen Curry has long been dedicated to making basketball accessible on and off the court, and his latest endeavor—a legacy brand powered by Under Armour—will be no different.

Curry Brand, launching December 1, features footwear, apparel, and accessories backed by Under Armour’s performance product innovations. But there’s more to the brand than product— a percentage of Curry Brand’s yearly revenue will be invested in under-resourced communities. The goals are as high-achieving as his basketball records: by 2025, the Curry Brand aims to create at least 20 safe places to play, support 125 programs that impact young athletes, and deliver opportunities to train more than 15,000 coaches—making an overall impact on more than 100,000 youth.

From a young age, Curry grew up surrounded by the power of sport and community. While playing in the NBA for the Charlotte Hornets, his father Dell Curry became increasingly active in the North Carolina community, and established The Dell Curry Foundation to support youth in the area. While Stephen has followed in his father’s footsteps building a prolific career in professional basketball, he’s also done so as a philanthropist, making it a priority to give back to the community with he and his wife Ayesha’s youth-focused family foundation, Eat. Learn. Play.

“We have a shared goal of unlocking play for kids, so that became a natural place for us to focus,” Curry said of the partnership with Under Armour. “I grew up doing a lot of things to give back to the community with my family—and continue that now—while Under Armour has done so much to support athletes around the world.”

Stephen has made youth his focus with his philanthropic efforts because he believes achieving success should not be dictated by circumstance. When it comes to athletics, less than 30% of youth ages 6 to 18 growing up in low-income households participate in organized sports, and low-income kids are six times more likely to quit sports because of financial costs. And now, as many sports programs impose increased fees and logistical hurdles in response to the coronavirus pandemic, experts anticipate participation will only decrease.

“Play is a fundamental part of childhood and is critical to development. So much of who I am as a person and a leader today is because of playing sports as a kid,” Curry said. “I learned the value of hard work, resilience, teamwork, communication, time management—sports teach young athletes so many critical life skills, which is why I’m passionate about making sure everyone has access to these opportunities, first through my foundation and now through Curry Brand.”

Curry Brand will first invest in the sport where Stephen built his platform—basketball. The following impact pillars will be the focus areas for Curry Brand investments:

• Safe Places to Play: Build inspiring spaces to learn and grow on and off the court. The brand will invest in court refurbs and sustainable programming of those spaces.
• Programming and Product: Resources and products to support team sports through regional school systems and local organizations.
• Coaching and Leadership Development: Investing in the recruitment and training of people to be great sports coaches for kids in under-resourced communities.

“For many years, Stephen and Under Armour have worked together in partnership—a partnership built around shared values,” said Patrik Frisk, Under Armour President and CEO. “Through this brand, we have an opportunity to push forward our vision for a better world, especially for young athletes facing challenges with access and opportunity for sport.”

While Curry Brand’s efforts will eventually reach communities worldwide, they will begin in Oakland, where the brand will collaborate with local organizations like Positive Coaching Alliance and Coaching Corps to provide professional development for every youth sports coach in the Oakland Unified School District and the Oakland Parks & Recreation Department. Oakland will then serve as a model for other regions.

“A lot of my inspiration for the brand came from the last 11 years I’ve spent in Oakland. All the support that the community has given me, I want to be able to hand that right back,” said Curry, who recently donated UA SPORTSMASKs to city youth and refurbished a court in East Oakland in 2019. “Under Armour and I have already been working on bringing play to Oakland, and through this work, I’ve been able to see the challenges kids are facing first-hand, so Curry Brand just builds on the strong foundation we’ve started.”

Under Armour has long been committed to its communities, athletes and youth and now consumers can get involved.

When consumers choose Curry Brand they will be supporting its vision to bring the joy of sports to every kid, investing in creating opportunities and increasing access for youth sports.

“Curry Brand is all about doing good in everything that we do,” Curry said. “I’ve tried to embody that in my own actions, and I think it’s also something that other people can really get behind no matter where they are in life or what their goals are, sports or otherwise. We all have the ability to impact the next person and to give back in some way, and that’s more important now than ever before.”