Chris Mackie – Quickball Co-Founder
Speak with Kelly and Steve O’Connor of Philadelphia Adult League Softball (PALS) for any length of time and you will automatically become an avid supporter of their amazing cause.
Along with a dedicated group of volunteers and staff, the O’Connors are blending infectious enthusiasm and roll-up-your sleeves determination to transform our national diamond sports pastime into an impactful international movement. At USA and now EL1 Quickball, we have been proud supporters of their efforts ever since Kelly and PALS reached out to us seven years ago. We have always been honored to be a part of their goodwill mission to teach the values of teamwork, friendship and positive life lessons that derive from fun, collaborative diamond-sports experiences.
So what, officially, is their cause? It’s Change Up Sports, the non-profit charitable arm of PALS. Fueled by an inspiring vision, the organization was created to build “a world where sports are always inclusive, accessible, and equitable for everyone, and where young people and adults can play the sports they love without barriers, and with holistic support, encouragement, and resources that they need on and off the field.”
Change Up regularly collaborates with strategic partners who share their vision and passion. At Quickball, we connect with their core values of diversity, inclusion, fair play, fun and gender equity. “We officially incorporated on February 1, 2023,” Kelly explained in an email in May, 2023. “Change Up enables us to continue all of our community initiatives and partnerships but also allows us to expand what we do and to move forward in a more focused, strategic, and sustainable way.”
As for Quickball, it has been incredibly rewarding to see photos from Change Up events where kids are learning about our sport through games, clinics and leagues that include Quickball equipment. Along with widespread softball equipment donations, the Change Up staff has regularly used our gear outside of the North American borders — in places like Belize and Sierra Leone — to provide meaningful play opportunities for those living in under-resourced communities. Asked to provide examples of the work they do, Kelly shined the spotlight on several recent international trips.
“Last August, a team of 11 from our board of directors and their families returned to Belize for the third time to continue our partnerships there, bringing down 15 bags of equipment, school supplies, and toiletries,” she noted. “While in Belize City, we facilitated a community Quickball clinic in Queen Square in Belize City for over 115 young people, and provided lunch and new backpacks filled with toiletries and school supplies for every participant.”
Change Up Sports also facilitated clinics in Belize, while donating backpacks and supplies at both the Liberty Children’s Home orphanage for young people without parental care as well as the New Beginnings Youth Development Center residential care facility for young people who are incarcerated. “We hosted a CPR and First Aid Class, facilitated by the Belize Red Cross Society, and donated equipment to the Belize City Softball Association and other partners,” Kelly added. “We also held two softball clinics with 30 students from Ocean Academy, the only high school on the small island of Caye Caulker.
“In Sierra Leone,” she continued, “we are really excited to share that so many of the girls who we started working with through Quickball in 2021 and 2022 have now graduated from Quickball to our Softball for Success program (utilizing an 11” softball), which we started planning for in 2023 and officially kicked off in 2024. Softball for Success is a sports-based youth development and girls empowerment program for teenage girls ages 12 to 18 in Freetown. It melds positive, inclusive softball instruction, practice, and games with holistic youth development activities including life skills and leadership workshops, cultural activities, community service, and team building opportunities.”
Want to donate or volunteer? Learn more about how you can do either or both by visiting the Change Up website at: www.let’schangeupsports.com
Financial donations can be made through Venmo, Paypal or by sending a check made out to:
Change Up Sports, 21 S.
11th Street – Floor 2,
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Change Up Sports also accepts equipment donations from individuals or groups and encourages equipment drives and fundraisers.
