(Community Matters 196) B Squared Foundation Brings Pro Level Coaching to Local Kids

Brittney Dowdy returns to talk about two summer opportunities that put kids first: a free community flag football game and a Pistons Academy basketball clinic built to be affordable and high impact. Brittney shares how the B Squared Foundation raises money, sponsors kids, and uses sports to build confidence and better teamwork on and off the court. 

For more information on sponsoring a child, call 269-358-8383

Episode Resources

B Squared Foundation Facebook Page 

B Squared Foundation Website

Pistons Academy Website

ABOUT COMMUNITY MATTERS
Former WBCK Morning Show host Richard Piet (2014-2017) returns to host Community Matters, an interview program focused on community leaders and newsmakers in and around Battle Creek. Community Matters is heard Saturdays, 8:00 AM Eastern on WBCK-FM (95.3) and anytime at battlecreekpodcast.com.

Community Matters is sponsored by Lakeview Ford Lincoln and produced by Livemic Communications.

Transcript

Welcome And Where To Listen

Richard Piet 0:01

Community Matters is a visit with you on Saturdays at 95.3 and at Battle Creek Podcast.com any day. Or just pick up your device and go where you get podcasts and type in Calhoun County Community Matters, and you can follow us there. You'll get a nice alert when new episodes come available. Well, I want to welcome back to Community Matters Brittney Dowdy. If you remember Brittany, uh you know she is the master coordinator of cool events, particularly in summer and particularly around kids. And we have some to talk about now. Hello, Brittney.

Brittney Dowdy 0:42

Hi, thank you for having me, Mr. Piet.

Free Community Flag Football Game

Richard Piet 0:44

We've got a couple of things to talk about. Coming up on the 19th is the community football game. It's free. And this is something you've done in the past.

Brittney Dowdy 0:52

Yep, this will be our second annual football game against the Battle Creek Police Department, along with the Michigan State Police joins us sometime. And then also the Battle Creek Fire Department usually joins us. And last year they won the trophy. So my kids this year, which is the community kids, can be kids from any school district, any area, any age. We just we're fighting to get our trophy back.

Richard Piet 1:14

So they're motivated, then I presume.

Brittney Dowdy 1:17

We're motivated, yeah.

Richard Piet 1:19

All right. So this is free. This is a uh meant to be a community engagement kind of opportunity. And so uh what if a parent is listening and says, Boy, you know, my kid might like to be in that. How do you figure that out?

Brittney Dowdy 1:33

They can go on our Facebook page, which is B Squared, like the superscript two, like in a math problem. So B squared. It will say B2, B squared foundation on Facebook. We also have a website where they can go sign on and say, hey, we want to join that football game. www.b as in boy-squared sq u ar ed foundation.org. Again, b-squared foundation.org, where they can say, hey, I want to have my kid participate in it. It's totally free, and that's gonna be 3 p.m. on July 19th. Now I must put a disclaimer in there. We do have a rain date. So if it's raining, it will be moved to July 26th.

Richard Piet 2:21

It's not like the NFL where they play in any weather.

Brittney Dowdy 2:24

Right. Right. And if it's severe thunderstorms, we're not gonna do it. But yes, we have a rain date.

Richard Piet 2:30

All right. So for now, we're expecting sun on July 19th at 3 at Battle Creek Central for the free community football day, which probably should mention it's flag football, so uh you're not gonna get tackled.

Brittney Dowdy 2:45

That is correct. The BCT was like, we gotta play flag, we cannot do tackle.

Richard Piet 2:50

Yeah, all right. Well, that makes sense, of course. All right, so a fun opportunity. And uh how did you come up with this and uh talk for a second about B Squared Foundation and what that's

How B Squared Foundation Started

Richard Piet 3:03

about?

Brittney Dowdy 3:04

Absolutely. Uh for guests to have heard the radio show in the past. Last year we had a mission was to send kids to the Detroit Lions camp that came to Battle Creek Central, and that's how it all started. My son had a goal with just sending one kid to the camp. The community got involved, and we ended up sending 32 kids to the camp at $249. During that time, we did team building exercises with the kids that we raised money with. We went to like the water park and soaring eagle, and then we came up with doing a game against the Battle Creek Police Department, which is our trophy initiative. Okay. After the camp and everything, I graduated from college. And so we I instead of having an open house, I did another challenge, which was called Ola to Diploma. And people were like giving me pop bottles and cans to help cover that cost for kids so that they can get free Spanish lessons. However, after the funding ran out, no donations, I was like, I think it's time to continue our sports initiative with some literacy as well. And so that's how B Squared was born. So we continue to still do the mother-son birthday challenge that will always be every March, uh, depending on what type of events that are going on in our community. That's what we will support with the mother-son challenge. And it's simply like you either pledge my son for a certain amount or me for a certain amount, and whoever raised the most money wins. So we're a very competitive family in our household, as you can tell. But Bentley noticed, yes. Bentley has won two years in a row with support.

Richard Piet 4:38

Has he now? Oh boy, he's not getting too cocky, is he?

Brittney Dowdy 4:42

Not yet. I think next year he might get me.

Richard Piet 4:45

How old is he now?

Brittney Dowdy 4:46

He is actually 10.

Richard Piet 4:47

10. Okay, we're into the double digits now.

Brittney Dowdy 4:51

Yes.

Richard Piet 4:52

Okay, well, good for him, and uh congratulations to him. And Ola to Diploma. I like that. Yeah, that's a nice uh turn of phrase, I guess you'd call it. Okay, so the 19th, the community football

Pistons Academy Clinic Details And Cost

Richard Piet 5:05

game. You're also planning something in August, the Pistons Academy Clinic, right?

Brittney Dowdy 5:11

Yes, we are super excited about that. One thing being in the nonprofit sector, we get to network with other nonprofits. And so I've heard about a nonprofit in my hometown, which is in Benton Harbor, Michigan. And we recently just came back from a Gusmacker tournament yesterday. Well, on June 28th, had the Gus Macker tournament because we were helping that foundation as well raise funds for that area. And then he got me introduced, Rodney Alexander, to the Pistons Academy. And so we're super excited. I talked to them and they was like, Hey, we want to come to Battle Creek. And I was like, Look, I seen some of your prices. We can't afford it this year this quick. And he was like, Nope, we really want to come to Battle Creek. And I said, Well, if we do it this year, let's make it affordable for family. So we are raising money to send kids for that academy, it's $87.55. The grades are grades three through nine, boys and girls. That is going to be August 22nd at Fool Blast Arena from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. So again, the cost of the campus is $87.55. We are looking for sponsors to help cover that cost, but we also sponsor kids. So far, we've got 13 kids sponsored that wanted to go because we don't want to have anything uh stop these kids from going. And we're not just limited to kids in Battle Creek. I got 10 kids already. They're gonna just give me the names that are coming from Albion. I got another five out of Campbell Zoo coming out of foster care. So we're not just limited to Battle Creek. We want kids to attend at Albion Marshall, all the surrounding areas, Bellevue, Union City, you name it.

Richard Piet 6:48

And that 8755 is the cost per kid to attend. That is true. Yeah. Okay. And uh talk about what they're gonna experience. They're gonna obviously a clinic is it infers it, but let's hear what it it really means for them.

Brittney Dowdy 7:05

What it means for them is that they're gonna get some shooting experience, drills, passing on a higher professional level coaching staff. Yeah. Uh, we're also going to experience the Detroit Extreme team. And I'm very excited, like them, if you've ever been to a piston game or any audience members, to me, they're just as good as the Harlem Globetrotters. I enjoyed their show. I was like a little kid when I seen it. And so to have them come to be a part of that and give those kids that experience that may not be having the opportunity to go to a business game. So we're just trying to bring that Detroit life to Battle Creek, our town.

Richard Piet 7:44

And these uh third to ninth graders are gonna get some professional level tips and coaching in this, and that's going to, I presume you know better than I inspire whatever uh basketball dreams they have.

Brittney Dowdy 7:59

Exactly. Take it to the next level, and to say that I had this opportunity to work with the Pistons Academy, that is not only name-dropping, but it's a confidence builder.

Richard Piet 8:12

Absolutely. So if you've uh, for example, you hit a Lions clinic before and uh that was similarly situated, you got to see right uh how the kids respond to that. Talk about that. What did you see on that day and you expect to see on this one?

Brittney Dowdy 8:30

I'm expecting to see a lot of smiles and a lot of hugs that the kids usually give, even not just to me, but to themselves and to their teammates, the encouragement after the Lions Academy. One of the cool things was parents will come up to me and say, they really put something through to my kids. They used to fight all the time and now they're engaging in teamwork and building and helping one another. And so that confidence alone, one of the things that our foundation wants to do is create opportunities on and off the court. So you have to be a class uh teammate,

Sponsorship Help Registration And Closing

Brittney Dowdy 9:03

sportsman-like kind of not just on the field, but off the field as well. And so that is what I'm hoping to engage in this opportunities that most kids, bigger cities have. So if we can offer that to our kids in Battle Creek, we're really building in their future and surrounding areas.

Richard Piet 9:20

All right, Pistons Academy Clinic, August 22nd at full blast, nine in the morning until 1 p.m., looking for boys and girls in grades three to nine. What do they have to do to get registered, Brittany?

Brittney Dowdy 9:34

They can go on to the Pistons Academy.com and register that way. Okay.

Richard Piet 9:41

And we'll put a link in the show notes too at battlecreekpodcast.com in case you can't uh write that down or get to it, so you can just remember that and then find this discussion and click through. So this is August. Do they have to be you probably recommend they get to it, right? If if they want to be a part of this.

Brittney Dowdy 9:57

Get registered right away. It is filling up very quickly. I'm just hoping soon I check and it'll say sold out. So if they are looking for sponsorships, I encourage them to text me at 269-358-8383.

Richard Piet 10:14

All right. So uh that's an important point. So as Britney said, $87.55 per child to attend the Pistons Academy clinic. And if that's out of reach for some folks, they're doing what they can to try and still make it possible with sponsorships and things. And somebody might want to donate toward that, right? That's part of this.

Brittney Dowdy 10:34

Yep. I'll actually send you the link to do that. It goes 100% to our foundation to cover the Pistons camp. And we also, like always, where them cans at. We collect cans and bottles to help cover the cost. And as much as we want to, we will be able to cover as much as funding will allow us. So I don't want to discourage parents. Like if they can't afford it and we have to turn them down, that's if that means the funding's not there. But we're gonna do our best.

Richard Piet 11:02

Okay.

Brittney Dowdy 11:03

I have to do some thing to make sure I get a kid there. I will do that.

Richard Piet 11:06

You're gonna do what you have to do. All right. B Squared Foundation sponsoring the Pistons Academy Clinic. Again, you heard Britney say, don't uh let the 8755 uh shy you away from it because there could be some possibilities, or maybe you'd like to help sponsor a child or two, uh, just send the text, 269-358-8383, or click through. We'll put that link in the show notes as well, and you can uh do what you'd like to do to support the B Squared Foundation and these particular efforts, like the Pistons Academy Clinic. Brittany, thanks for all you do and congratulations on all the attention and success you've been getting.

Brittney Dowdy 11:52

Thank you so much. And it's people like you that helped me get there. So thank you for being a legend and being a big shot because my grandmother said the only way you become a big shot is the little shots keep on shooting, and that's what I'm doing is keeping shooting.

Richard Piet 12:05

That is a great uh a great encouragement uh positioning statement there. I like that. Well, thank you, and keep us posted on what's happening, okay?

Brittney Dowdy 12:14

Most definitely.

Richard Piet 12:15

All right, Brittany Doughty, B Squared Foundation here on Community Matters.