The USA Patriots (formerly known as the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team) has been a registered nonprofit since 2011 after the need for continued rehabilitation options for our wounded warriors had begun to rise. Through the sport of slow pitch softball, the organization has grown in significant ways by providing athletic programming, youth programming initiatives to teach the abilities of adaptive sport by our veterans, and to engage our veterans in communities to show off the abilities they now have as post-trauma athletes.
The Mission of the USA Patriots is to bring athletic and like-minded veteran amputees together to promote the benefits of inclusive sport and therapeutic recreational activities, to inspire and motivate communities of people, to support children with physical challenges, and to operate as a vehicle that offers national opportunities for continued service to our country.
Likewise, we established a vision to move our vehicle forward. With all of our programs and goals in mind, it is our hope that the USA Patriots will take action as a leading veteran-centric athletic team that serves beyond the uniform by empowering, inspiring, and investing in communities across America with the belief that achievement is not without sacrifice.
The organization started with one week of spring training to veterans who were just learning to walk at Walter Reed hospital. After the week was over, it was clear that the ability to use softball to heal these veterans in both a physical and emotional capacity was significant enough to establish a constant program in support of these opportunities. The team was then established in 2011 and took off quite well. After a great deal of success as a team, the veterans came together asking how they could give back to the communities who supported their 3 year journey to health. It seemed most natural to give back to the amputee community to use their service to show that life without limbs can be limitless. Soon, a kids camp was established. This camp is funded by the team who now has the opportunity to not only be a player, but to use their military leadership skills to become coaches for young children who also may think that their limb loss will limit their athletic opportunities in life. This program has been a successful way of giving leadership skills to our veterans, while also directly impacting a community of people they are most connected too. The team has continued to grow since this program addition, and we are now in a place where we are able to provide multiple streams of programming: 1. Team (softball), 2. Adaptive Skills Training through Spring Training Week, 3. Kids Camp and Leadership/Coaching and sharing Adaptive Sport Techniques, and 4. Educating Communities in the areas of Adaptive Sport and Prosthetic Care.
As an organization that has a great deal of travel to complete our mission, our biggest hurdle is travel and programmatic funding. We have a high expense rate and it is crucial for us to maintain strong and consistent partners and sponsors to recover those expense levels. Through our organizational rebrand, we have been able to distinguish ourselves as a stand alone nonprofit (differentiating ourselves from Wounded Warrior Project or other WW organizations due to the name association), and have really clarified our mission, vision, goals, and values. This has set us up to be in a place to better showcase what intangibles are happening within our organization and positioning us to be a viable opportunity for support from donors and sponsors.
Our program serves in a few capacities:
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The USA Patriots are proud of our strong exclusive partnerships in the areas of Professional Softball, Veteran Services, and Corporate Operations who support our mission of Serving Beyond the Uniform.
To become an Official Team Partner, please contact Rich Cress at rich@usapatriotsathletics.org
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