Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Darius Watkins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Darius thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.
Six Twelve Sports serves youth aged 6-17 in the Memphis metropolitan area. Our mission is to “create equitable access to youth sports in order to meet the physical, mental, spiritual, and mentoring needs of youth in the Memphis metropolitan area.” We create equitable access to youth sports primarily through offering sports camps to Memphis youth. There are two different types of camps that we have: completely free sports camps during breaks and traditional sports camps that cost to attend. We provide scholarships to the traditional camps on a needs basis. Our goal is for 40% of our campers to attend traditional camps for free because that number mirrors the historical Memphis childhood poverty rate.
Per a 2023 American Community Survey, Memphis has a poverty rate of 22.6% and a child poverty rate of 36.3%. Statistically speaking, for every 3 children who live in Memphis 1 of those children live in statistical poverty. These statistics rank Memphis, TN as the number 2 city in America for child poverty. One can infer from this data that, due to being financially disadvantaged, it’s extremely more difficult for 36.3% of Memphis youth to participate in quality programming that is equitable to programming that’s available to middle and upper class Memphis youth. The drastic child poverty rate implies a lack of access to basic needs, and that’s why we come into play to be able to serve the community with access to equitable youth sports.
Darius, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Darius Watkins and I am a Professional School Counselor at a Memphis area 6-12 private school. Prior to working at that private school, I worked as a School Counselor in 4 different Title 1 schools in Memphis for 8 years. While being a counselor is my primary job, coaching sports and providing equitable access to sports through Six Twelve Sports has been something that has grown further than I thought would be possible.
We are a faith inspired organization that’s name Six Twelve comes from John 6:12 which states “Let nothing be wasted.” We believe that that scripture is a core part of our why and it is something that is transferrable to every avenue of life. To date we primarily offer basketball camps that serve over 500 Memphis area youth annually. This past year, between 3 free camps and 3 traditional camps (where scholarships were offered) 83% of were able to participate in camp free of charge.
The thing that I am the most proud of is that we have served Memphis from 97% of Memphis residential zip codes. It is amazing to see that we serve kids from all backgrounds of life whether the come from public, private, charter, montessori, or homeschool. Our organization and mission has clearly resonated across culture in and around Memphis.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I believe that word of mouth from parents and campers has helped build the reputation of Six Twelve Sports in the youth sports market. I believe that being a faith inspired organization that tries to practice what we preach has also helped from an authenticity standpoint. Lastly, I believe that firsthand experience of seeing a diverse group of campers consistently coming together and having truly competitive fun in a safe, family friendly environment has also really resonated with families given that 100% of parents who complete post camp survey feel safe with their kids at camp.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When Six Twelve initially began in 2017 we operated primarily in the Memphis suburbs and the camp demographics reflected that. Knowing that I wanted Six Twelve to be a place for all of Memphis, with a strong desire to serve those who don’t have as many opportunities at equitable sports training, I decided that it was best to be more centrally located. Since 2021, the majority of our camps have been centrally located in Memphis so that no matter if you’re coming from North Memphis or a neighboring Memphis suburb your access to camp would essentially be the same distance wise. Since making that change (as well as offering scholarships and multiple free camps annually), our demographics much more accurately reflect the demographics of Memphis as a whole. A significant part of that pivot was becoming a 501c3 nonprofit so that we could procure tax deductible donations to continue to offer scholarships and free camps.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sixtwelvecamps.com
- Instagram: sixtwelvesports
- Facebook: Six Twelve Sports
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darius-watkins-med-ncc-2a4a6a96/
- Twitter: sixtwelvesports
Image Credits
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