BYU graduates Ryan Bowler and Amanda Bowler are making a difference in the lives of many kids in their community. They recently set up a nonprofit organization to provide finances for underprivileged youth to be involved in organized sports.
The organization, AMP Athletics, officially filed for nonprofit status last November. They are looking forward to providing services to children ages 8-15 throughout the Utah area.
According to the AMP Athletics website, the goal of the organization is 'to amplify the lives of underprivileged children by enabling them to participate in sports facilitating their physical, emotional, and social development.'
Both Ryan and Amanda learned a lot from their experiences with sports growing up, and they recognized the many benefits that came from being involved with such positive activities as youth.
'Our main purpose is to give kids an opportunity to participate in sports and provide them with some positive role models to look up to,' Amanda said.
Ryan and Amanda always wanted to have something that they could work on together, and they've combined their best efforts to make AMP Athletics tick.
'Her giving nature and my passion for it have combined to be something where we can really give back and make an impact on children's lives in the community,' Ryan said.
This past Saturday, AMP Athletics held its first event of the year in the form of a three-on-three basketball tournament at Salem Hills High School in Salem. The event was all-around successful as the sports marketing class at Salem Hills helped run the tournament for its final class project.
Jordan Daley, sports marketing teacher at Salem Hills, wanted to provide his students with an opportunity to put their skills into action for a good cause. He was elated to partner with AMP Athletics, in putting the tournament together and donating all of the proceeds to help underprivileged youth.
“We teamed up with the organization and they’ve been amazing,' Daley said. 'AMP Athletics has donated so much of their time to come to our class. The kids have learned so much from them, not only on how to run an event but they were able to see where the proceeds go and that they could help these underprivileged youth that don’t have the option to play and participate in sports.”
Both Ryan and Amanda were pleased with the turnout and support at the tournament, and look forward to the future of AMP Athletics.
'We are really pleased with our first event and are thankful for the support we received,' Amanda said. 'We reached both of our goals by having over 50 teams and raising over $5,000. We are excited to see what the future holds. To get involved, 'like' AMPAthletics on facebook or subscribe on our website ampathletics.org.'