Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year
The Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year represents a sports club/team that demonstrates how teamwork can create a significant impact on a community or cause.
2023 Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Winner
San Antonio Spurs
More than one year has passed since the tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Since that day, the San Antonio Spurs have wrapped their arms around the Uvalde community and walked alongside them on their complex road to healing. The Spurs formed the Sport for Healing Fund in partnership with the Texas professional sports community, the NBA and individual donors, which invests in trauma and healing-centered care for youth and families using the power of sports. In an effort to create moments for young people to feel joy amidst the pain and loss, last October the Spurs moved their annual Open Practice to Uvalde High School along with a community fair and youth basketball clinics throughout the day. The team also has invested in safe spaces to heal including an elementary school playground and the Center for Comfort and Consults. The Spurs staff has volunteered more than 700 hours in Uvalde to date, distributed more than 1,500 free tickets, donated sports equipment to youth basketball teams and have raised more than $1M in funds committed to uplifting and supporting the community for many years to come.
2023 Finalists:
Connecticut Sun
Indianapolis Colts
New York Jets
Past Winners
2022: Denver Broncos
There is no offseason in the community and each day the Denver Broncos are committed to improving lives by focusing on Youth Development, Quality of Life, Health & Wellness, Youth Football and Civic Engagement. By working together with best-in-brand nonprofit organizations, the Broncos are able to make a difference through strategic programming, unique events and dedicated advocacy all while aligning with the team's identified focus areas. To date, the Broncos are the only professional sports team to fully fund its own branch of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, giving 14,500+ under-resourced youth a home away from home since 2003. A recent evaluation found Broncos Club members perform better in school, become the leaders of tomorrow and live healthier lives. The Broncos also launched a gun buyback program in partnership with Denver and Aurora councilmembers and Colorado-based nonprofit RAWTools to host a series of eight gun buyback events between March and October 2022, allowing residents an opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted firearms in an anonymous and confidential way. Firearms are destroyed at the moment of transfer, melted down and turned into garden tools that are then donated back to the community. 307 firearms were collected and safely destroyed during the first two buybacks. The event signified the first gun buyback event hosted in the City and County of Denver since 1993 and is believed to be the first buyback program hosted by an NFL team or at an NFL facility.
2022 Finalists:
Miami HEAT
Pittsburgh Penguins
Seattle Storm
2021: Atlanta Dream
Following George Floyd's murder and the subsequent protests, the Atlanta Dream's previous owner and Georgia Senate Candidate denounced the WNBA's public support of the Black Lives Matter movement, undermining her own players and their beliefs, and forcing them to take a position in direct opposition of their employer. Rather than stay silent, they bravely spoke truth to power, and along with WNBA peers, shined a light on the important issues of racial justice and voter suppression. Then, shockwaves were felt across the political and sports world when, on a nationally televised game, the Dream players wore "Vote Warnock" t-shirts, publicly endorsing the owner's opponent in the Georgia Senate election. The support of the WNBA and the Dream catalyzed the opponent's candidacy and led to his Senate victory. In a full circle moment, the Dream made history again when former Dream All-Star Renee Montgomery became the first former WNBA player to become both an owner and senior executive. The Atlanta Dream was named in honor of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, and what these women accomplished for civil rights and social justice embodies Dr. King's "Dream" of a more equitable America.
2021 Finalists
Denver Broncos (NFL)
New York City Football Club (MLS)
Toronto Blue Jays (MLB)
2020: Los Angeles Dodgers
In Los Angeles, one out of every five people lives at or below the poverty line. The goal of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) is to be bigger than baseball, envisioning a city where every Angeleno, regardless of zip code, has the opportunity to thrive. Through direct programs and grants to nonprofits, LADF tackles the most pressing problems facing Los Angeles with a mission to improve education, health care, homelessness, and social justice for all Angelenos. Through Dodgers RBI, LADF has increased access to health care and educational resources to over 10,000 youth, with a specific emphasis on African American youth and girls. The program helped 97 percent of the players, ages 9 to 18, succeed in social-emotional learning development. Another key program, the "Dodgers Reading Champions" online reading challenge of LA Reads, has engaged 16,000 students across 1,075 schools, enabling young readers to read a total of 3,532,000 minutes last year. Their Dodgers Dreamfields program has helped to build or refurbish 51 baseball and softball fields in underserved communities, providing 368,000 youth with access to safe, playable fields in their own neighborhoods. In 2019, LADF unveiled its second universally accessible Dodgers Dreamfield helping over 3,000 youth with special needs to safely play on an adaptive field.
2020 Finalists
Denver Broncos (NFL)
New York City Football Club (MLS)
Sacramento Kings (NBA)
2019: Chicago Fire Soccer Club
For their work in addressing the public school student drop-out rate in Chicago, the Chicago Fire Soccer Club was crowned the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year. More than 40% of public school students in Chicago do not graduate high school, and nearly 70 students drop out of school every day. Through an innovative after-school soccer program called P.L.A.Y.S. (Participate, Learn, Achieve, Youth, Soccer), the Chicago Fire Soccer Club offers a 10-week program that integrates soccer with social and emotional learning character skills, while striving to improve participants' academic performance and providing a safe and supportive environment to engage in soccer. P.L.A.Y.S. participants have had a decrease in behavior infractions, number of disciplinary incidents, unexcused absences, suspensions and failing grades. Ultimately, the program has led to a 50% drop in crime near its spaces, a significant feat given that 60% of P.L.A.Y.S. schools were in the top-20 most violent neighborhoods in Chicago.
2019 Finalists
Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB)
New York City Football Club (MLS)
2018: The U.S. Women's National Ice Hockey Team
The 2017-18 U.S. Women's National Ice Hockey Team ignited a powerful movement, inspiring future generations of women and girls across this nation, and empowering them to rise and speak out against inequality. In March 2017, the team announced it would boycott the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship unless the players received increased training stipends and equal benefits to the men's team. A successful resolution was reached just three days before the world championship. Players on the team put their careers, reputations and livelihoods on the line in order to fight for equitable support, and in the process, they reminded the entire nation that equality demands that women have equal standing in sports. Their tenacity flowed onto the ice as well, as the women went on to win gold against their rival Team Canada at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
2018 Finalists
Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Boston Red Sox (MLB)
Chicago Fire (MLS)
2017: San Francisco 49ers
In addition to the San Francisco 49ers collectively donating over 1,200 hours of volunteer time to 75 community events and committing $4 million to local non-profits in 2016 alone, the team is also at the forefront of two innovative and highly impactful programs that use football to make lasting changes in the Bay Area. First, the 49ers STEM Leadership Institute is a six-year curriculum that begins in 7th grade and continues through high school and seeks to prepare students with high academic potential in STEM. During the 2016-2017 school year, over 40,000 hours of education have been offered, including integrated and open lab hours, tutoring, and enrichment events. Of the 60 students in the 2020 class, 50% have 4.0 GPAs and the average GPA is 3.81. Second, the 49ers STEAM Education Program - which opened in 2014, provides informal learning experiences for K-8 students through its program that teaches standards-aligned (Common Core and Next Generation Science) lessons using the STEAM principles of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. Housed within the Denise DeBartolo York Education Center at Levi's Stadium, the program has reached over 150,000 participants since inception - free of charge - with over 50 percent of students coming from Title I designated schools.
2017 Finalists
Chicago White Sox (MLB)
Memphis Grizzlies (NBA)
New York City Football Club (MLS)
2016: San Francisco Giants (MLB)
Twenty-one years ago, the San Francisco Giants created Junior Giants to help end the cycle of violence in impoverished areas around the city. Over the years, the program has served more than 275,000 children around California, Nevada and Oregon with the help of 35,000 coaches. And while baseball participation among 6-12 year olds has decreased 14% since 2008, Junior Giants has increased participation 62% during the same time. The program also is designed to build life skills, and a survey of parents, coaches and youth players found that 76% of participants were engaged in more physical activity, 64% read more, 89% said their confidence was improved, and 86% knew what to say or do about bullying.
2016 Finalists
Detroit Pistons
LA Galaxy
San Francisco 49ers
2015: Chicago Bulls (NBA)
The Chicago Bulls' work in the community is a collaborative effort among the team's players, fans, corporate partners, community partners, and front office staff. Community is a fundamental part of the team's business operations and the Bulls feel a responsibility to give back to the city and people who give so much to them. Last year, the Bulls organized over 100 community events focused on youth education, health and wellness, violence prevention, and the military with more than 30,000 people impacted. The team's Season of Giving alone, reached 16,000 people in the Chicago community, with 1,000 gifts and 2,200 meals provided to families in need. Additionally, the Bulls distributed $2.5 million in cash and in-kind donations in support of local organizations.
2015 Finalists
Portland Timbers (MLS)
San Francisco 49ers (NFL)
WWE Community Relations