Site Visit - Sound Mind Sound Body

On Monday, March 27, I and three other members of the Social Media/Blog team had the honor of meeting with Curtis Blackwell, founder of the Sound Mind Sound Body Football Academy, along with representatives from two of SMSB’s partner organizations – Paul Fayad and Mike Fox from the East Side Youth Sports Foundation and the MAC Athletic Complex, as well as John Wangler on behalf of Adidas and Top Cat Sales.

Our meeting began with a tour of the MAC Athletic Complex, which serves as the premier sports training facility in Detroit’s East Side neighborhood. Our group was thrilled to hear about the growing relationship between SMSB and the MAC, highlighted by Paul and Mike’s commitment to SMSB by granting Curtis exclusivity in providing football programming at the facility. We were also shown additional space in the basement that will be utilized by SMSB for its mentoring and tutoring workshops, allowing them to get back to their core focus of education which Curtis admitted that they had started to stray away from in recent years.

After completing our tour, the eight of us got to sit down and have an in-depth chat about the history of SMSB, their impact throughout the years, and their plans for the future that were highlighted in their grant proposal to our class. We were able to clear up some questions about Curtis’ proposed budget for SMSB Project 100 – an extension of SMSB’s year-long education and football programming for high schoolers that will be aimed to target Detroit-area middle school youth – as well as the SMSB365 app that Curtis believes could be a game changer for SMSB. We also got to hear more about the partnerships between SMSB, the MAC, and Adidas, and were again impressed by the deep commitment expressed by all parties. Upon wrapping up our meeting, it was clear that SMSB is and will continue to serve as a staple in the Detroit community for years to come, led by a strong vision from Curtis to grow SMSB’s impact on Detroit youth.

On behalf of myself and Group 1, I think that I can speak for all of us when I say that we will look back on that visit as the highlight of our semester with Foundation 313. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to hear about SMSB’s mission and goals straight from the source, along with getting to witness the glaring needs that exists outside of our Ann Arbor campus.

Come Monday, April 3, we look forward to making our case as to why SMSB is deserving of our $10,000 grant. Can’t wait to see what happens come decision day!