Our Story

In God’s providence, Sports Outreach began on a dusty, broken-down soccer field in 1988 when our founder, Russ Carr, traveled to Uganda with a heart to serve what were then known as the ‘invisible children’ - a generation of child soldiers traumatized by Africa's second longest-running conflict in the war-torn north. Russ hoped to identify, recruit, train, and ultimately deploy committed Christian leaders from this generation. But when he arrived, what he encountered were children who’d been abducted and exploited in the worst possible ways. Their blank stares and joyless faces were impenetrable! Nothing he did to serve them seemed to bring any hope…UNTIL, on a whim, he laid a soccer ball at their feet! In a moment, the children lit up! It was as if God was telling Russ, ‘Sports can be one of My vehicles for restoring hope and transforming lives.’ 

Fast forward, and what started on a field expanded to full-fledged soccer clinics in both Uganda and Kenya. These clinics provided hundreds of children with high-quality athletic instruction, spiritual formation, and personal mentorship. The only problem was these children, who were flocking to our clinics, had not eaten in days. It was as if God was again speaking - this time, challenging Sports Outreach leaders to not just feed souls on the field but nourish bodies off it. And so, Sports Outreach started its first “off-field” humanitarian initiative - a nutritional program that fed hundreds of children per day. 

Over three decades later, we are now serving in 9 different countries across the globe and using numerous on-field sports and four specific off-field initiatives - medical, educational, vocational, and nutritional programs - to restore hope and transform lives.

We feel exceedingly blessed to be playing a small part in what the Scriptures seem to indicate was Jesus’ heart; namely, “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and affliction.” (Matthew 9:35). Our hope is that you would join us in making an impact!

Fun fact: In 2016, Disney released a full-length motion picture, The Queen of Katwe, depicting an example of our holistic approach to restoring hope and transforming lives.