Press Release: PATHWAYS Initiative Partnership

Three partners, Flatirons Rush – a youth soccer club in Colorado that is affiliated with an amateur-to-pro pathway USL2 soccer franchise, the nonprofit Freedom2Play whose mission is to make competitive sport less financially burdensome on families, and an innovative social platform for causes, MyRevolution, are excited to announce their support for the PATHWAYS Initiative.

PATHWAYS stands for: Promoting Athletes and Transforming How We Approach Youth Sport. The basic idea for the PATHWAYS Initiative is to rally donors behind the important cause of helping elite athletes afford the cost of continuing down the path of athletic excellence. The partnership will use the MyRevolution platform which brings together donors and the PATHWAYS cause, so that fundraising can go to support elite youth athletes.
Competitive sports in America cost families hundreds of thousands of dollars per athlete! That cost should not be borne alone by families when one considers the future value of the elite athlete; nor should a young prospect forego that opportunity for lack of funding! Freedom2Play was created with the mission of bridging this gap and enabling corporations and individuals to support elite athlete advancement. The PATHWAYS Initiative, using the MyRevolution platform, will facilitate fundraising at scale for this cause. Proceeds of the PATHWAYS Initiative will initially go toward a pilot, set up between Flatirons Rush and Freedom2Play, and using the MyRevolution platform.

Flatirons Rush, being a professional path franchise for young soccer players showing strong promise for a professional career, has agreed to promote its top talent and generate unique playing opportunities and brand development for these players. Examples include player exchanges with professional clubs in Europe, data asset initiatives to promote the brand and the players’ exposure, and academic scholarships for college credit while playing with Flatirons Rush. The costs associated with these player-promotion endeavors would be generated from Freedom2Play and the PATHWAYS Initiative.
Freedom2Play was created with the mission of disrupting the counter-productive pay-to-play model of US youth sports. Last year, an elite U16 soccer team was supported for its competition in England against Academies from the English Football League. For the PATHWAYS Initiative, Freedom2Play will engage in fundraising to support new programs for elite player advancement jointly arranged with Flatirons Rush, and then expand its financial backing for other elite athletes.
Joe Webb, Owner and President of Flatirons Rush stated: “This partnership with Freedom2Play and MyRevolution is going to make a major impact for our club and is in complete alignment with our mission and goal to make soccer affordable and accessible for everyone. Innovative programs that can help keep the cost of soccer low for families in our club is a great moment for us. MyRevolution was the perfect match for launching this campaign, the platform is exactly what we needed to promote the cause and connect to potential donors.”

According to Zehn Baskerville, Founder of MyRevolution: "MyRevolution is proud to partner with Freedom2Play and Flatirons Rush to help empower youth through Sports. As a young athlete, I had a front-row seat to how "pay to play" disenfranchised many of my peers; the real-world consequences are often heartbreaking. MyRevolution helps Causes and Supporters bring about positive change. We make it easier for both parties to engage and drive their missions forward. With Freedom2Play and its Supporters joining the platform, we serve as a home base that increases the reach, efficiency, and efficacy of the organization's most key objectives. I am grateful for the opportunity to partner with Freedom2Play, who are early adopters of the MyRevolution platform, as we stand to learn much about how we can best meet the needs of Causes and Supporters in tangible ways that add value back into the ecosystem."

Freedom2Play was launched in 2021 in Olympic City USA, Colorado Springs, with the mission of disrupting the Pay-to-Play model of US youth sports. Doug DePeppe, a data protection and sport data attorney explained the significance of this new partnership: “Taking the financial burden off the backs of parents as a mission speaks for itself. I don’t need to extoll that need and the benefit of that cause to America’s elite youth athletes. But, learning about and partnering with MyRevolution has been a true blessing. Zehn is filling a fundraising gap with MyRevolution. Moreover, in the new NIL era, working with Flatirons Rush and all of Joe Webb’s club and play promotion plans, we have a unique opportunity to use fundraising to create new value for these athletes.”
To learn more about this cause and to donate to PATHWAYS, the Freedom2Play cause is showcased on the MyRevolution platform here: https://www.myrevolution.com/cause/freedom2play