Support Through Sport Contest

Welcome to Demosphere's "Support Through Sport" Contest! After reading through dozens of entries, the following five finalists have been selected. Read their stories and stay tuned for the final results of the vote!

• Soccer Shots Global Goals - Soccer Shots Global Goals provides opportunities for disadvantaged youth within the US and around the world through the game of soccer. For the period leading up to the World Cup in June, Soccer Shots will focus on Khayelitsha, South Africa, an impoverished township outside of Cape Town where many parent-less children are in the care of the community. Soccer Shots Global Goals has pledged to raise funds and awareness for our partner Amandla Ku Lutsha, a South Africa based organization that works in Khayelitsha. Together, we seek to empower and educate disadvantaged youth through soccer.

• Montgomery United Soccer Club (Beneficiary: Susan G. Komen for the Cure - Philadelphia) - For the past 8 years, Montgomery United Soccer Club (MUSC) has hosted The MUSC Shoot For The Cure Soccer Tournament in the spring. Last year, the event attracted over 100 teams from Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Virginia, with over 20 teams from the home organization. In the past 8 years, MUSC has raised over $130,000.00 for the Philadelphia Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation to help find a cure for breast cancer. The Shoot for the Cure Tournament committee and hundreds of volunteers from the MUSC community help run the tournament each year.

• Santa Clara Sporting Club (Beneficiary: American Cancer Society - Santa Clara) - Two years ago, two mothers from Santa Clara Sporting Club were diagnosed with breast cancer. One fought a hard battle and survived, and the other lost her life. The club wanted to take action and birthed our annual Goals for a Cure campaign. Each October, all our teams compete in pink Goals for a Cure uniforms to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer. During the past two years, we raised over $46,000 and donated the funds to the El Camino Hospital Group, which used the money to provide over 500 free mammograms to women over 40 who wanted to get screened but could not afford the treatment. One of the most important actions to fight breast cancer is to catch the disease through early mammogram screening. The first year we started wearing the pink jerseys we took a lot of flack from our opponents, especially on the boys teams. Now we are gaining respect for our efforts. Demosphere made it easy for us to publish and promote all our efforts with our website.

• Oppurtunitas Aequa (OA) - OA Projects (OA) is a non-profit, grassroots organization that uses soccer to create opportunities for war-affected youth. In addition to helping youth enjoy soccer at a grassroots level, OA support local organizations that use soccer to promote peace and reconciliation and to address an imbalance in gender equality. OA is using the power of soccer to help build stronger communities in war affected northern Uganda, Ecuador, and Rwanda.

• Old Bridge Girls Soccer (Beneficiary: H.E.A.R.T. 9/11) - One of our coaches, Chaz Rynkiewicz, is a part of H.E.A.R.T. 9/11, and visited Haiti to assist with demolition and cleanup. H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 delivers relief help, on a volunteer basis, anywhere in the world where a disaster response is required to a community crisis. Old Bridge Girls Soccer provided H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 with new soccer jerseys for four teams, along with soccer balls and pumps. Chaz met with a "tent city" and directly distributed these items to the children while organizing numerous 3v3 soccer games.

Contest Rules:

No purchase necessary. Open to youth sports organizations located in the United States. Only one fully completed entry per organization will be accepted. All information entered becomes property of Demosphere and can be used for marketing purposes. Contact information (email, phone) will not be shared with any third parties. Top 5 entries selected exclusively by Demosphere. Entry deadline is 4/30/10 at 5:00p, ET. Votes for the Top 5 will occur exclusively on www.demosphere.com 5/4/10 at 9:00am ET until 5/14/10 at 5:00pm ET. Winner will be announced in ExtraTime newsletter on 6/4/10. Questions? Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .