Statement of Need

The MVP program is being expanded to fill a major void left in our community following the departure of the long running SAC program. Due to the uniqueness of our program, we do not feel any duplication of services is an issue. We feel that by expanding our MVP Basketball program, we are offering a more enhanced and thorough version of the former SAC program. Furthermore, other Fort Wayne based programs that are merely basketball related cost as much as $1,600.00 per child per year, as much as $65.00 per hour/ per lesson and as much as $300.00 per camp. This all but eliminates the target population of the MVP program from participation.

It should be noted that over the life of the former SAC program, 77% of it's participants attended college. Most of these did so by means of an athletic scholarship. Obviously, one must be talented to be offered an athletic scholarship. More importantly though, the student athlete must be able to show academic success to be able to accept that athletic scholarship. This is a combination of possessing a quality GPA throughout high school and a solid ACT/SAT test score. Without these academic successes, a scholarship cannot be accepted. The 77% mark put up by the SAC at-risk students is tremendously higher than the national average of 30% put up by at-risk students according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Thus, the availability of the MVP program, the attention given to the student athletes in helping them to achieve the academic and athletic goals which they set and the positive character building, life lessons that are taught and learned show the need in the Fort Wayne community for a quality program like the MVP Basketball Program.

"It is what you learn, after you know it all, that counts"

John Wooden