ATLANTA — The Why Not You Foundation, founded by Russell Wilson and his wife Ciara in 2014, is empowering kids across the country and metro Atlanta through their Youth Athlete of the Year Competition. One of the goals of the non-profit is to provide kids in underserved communities the resources they need to be successful and achieve their dreams.
Kids enter with a small essay, and are selected by the foundation to show off their talents. The kids then enter a tournament of voting on social media, and the top winner of each group advances. This year, 163,072 students entered, all competing for the first place prize: $25,000, an ad for 3Brand in Sports Illustrated, and a mentorship from multiple professional athletes.
The competition is doing more than inspire youth across America, it’s also bringing communities together in support. WSB-TV spoke to one student athlete from Conyers who is hoping to go far in the competition. Antario Jacas tells us he wants to be a doctor and professional basketball player when he grows up.
“My favorite basketball player is Steph Curry,” says Antario, “I love playing basketball, it’s better than soccer.”
Antario’s mother tells us the competition has even brought her joy, and seeing strangers come together to cheer on her son has meant the world.
“It’s encouraging and empowering families, bringing them together, and reminding them to dare to believe and go after it [their dreams],” says Amanda Jacas.
Right now, Antario is a quarter-finalist in the competition. To support him you can visit this link. To find out more about the Youth Athlete of the Year competition and follow along to see the winner, visit their website, athleteoftheyear.org.
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