Tag: Sportskind

A college basketball player gave up his starting spot to teammate honoring his late father

What a gesture.

This content comes from our friends at Sportskind.

Senior, Jaizec Lottie, the star player on the Flagler College basketball team, had started 39 straight games for the Saints ahead of their clash with Georgia College. But success has not gone to his head.  

Jaizec and freshman guard, Jax Bouknight, have become close friends in the rookie’s first season. Jax is from a basketball background. His father, Kevin, played college hoops at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and later coached youth basketball. Tragically, Kevin died in 2019 after a 10-year battle with cancer.

Flagler’s game at Georgia College coincided with the third anniversary of Kevin’s death. It was the first anniversary that Jax was to spend away from home. Naturally, he was a little apprehensive. 

But sensing his friend might be hurting, Jaizec stepped up with an incredible gesture. He went to Coach Chad Warner and asked to be benched so that Jax could make the first start of his college career in honor of his father.

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High school football team delivers game ball to QB’s home after a devastating injury

An amazing gesture from his team.

This content comes from our friends at Sportskind.

High school quarterback Kevin Balewicz knew something was wrong when he felt a pop in his leg during a game-time injury. 

WATCH KEVIN MAKE A MIRACULOUS RETURN TO SPORTS AFTER A DEBILITATING INJURY ALMOST COST HIM HIS LEG IN THE PLAYER ABOVE. 

He went home thinking it was a sprained ankle but the pain got worse and worse until one night it was unbearable and his family rushed him to the hospital. 

Days later, Kevin and his parents learned how serious this injury really was. He suffered from compartment syndrome. The muscles in his left leg were dying, and releasing toxins into his body.

Doctors needed to perform emergency surgery on his leg and gave the Balewicz family the grim news that it might need to be amputated. 

When Kevin woke up from the operation, he immediately stared down at his leg.

“It was still there,” says Kevin. “I was pretty happy.” 

Over the course of two months, Kevin made significant progress. 

A moment he’ll never forget is when his entire team packed into two school buses and showed up at his house with the game ball after a major win. 

“He’s as tough as they come, and a great teammate and person,” senior captain Zack Athy said. “So it was the least we could do for him.”

“I had no idea that they were planning that,” Kevin said. “It meant a lot to me.”

Just two months later, the 4-sport athlete was back doing what he loves. He may have missed the rest of football season but he returned to the baseball diamond and made the most incredible comeback. 

Kevin is up for a courage award at this year’s USA TODAY High School Sports Awards. 

The USA TODAY High School Sports Awards show, hosted by Michael Strahan and Rob Gronkowski, will name the top high school athletes from across the country. Watch it beginning at 8 p.m. Thursday, August 5th on sportsawards.usatoday.com, YouTube and the USA TODAY and USA TODAY Sports channels on your Roku or smart TV.

WATCH: Man in Michigan built an incredible baseball field in his parents’ backyard

Amazing.

This content comes from our friends at Sportskind.

At 14 years old, Eddie Zajdel started building a baseball field in his parents’ backyard. That mound of dirt has transformed into his own field of dreams.

WATCH COMMUNITY DONATIONS POUR IN FOR THIS BACKYARD IN THE PLAYER ABOVE.

“The field started off with just a mound of dirt that I put in the middle of the backyard,” said Zajdel. “My parents weren’t too enthusiastic about that, but they saw just how much enjoyment me and my friends were getting out of that. And because of that, it kind of took on a life of its own.”

The next summer, Eddie built an infield.

The summer after that, he added a fence.

Donations poured in to make his dream a reality.

“The grass in the field is a special blend of Kentucky bluegrass. That’s used by many different MLB stadiums,” says Zajdel. “We laser-leveled it, we installed lights, we installed a brand-new fence.”

For Eddie, the field is never done.

“Each day, I walk out, and there’s always something to work on. “

“Some nights when we’re out here sitting by the fire and the lights are on or when I see other people enjoying the field, it finally hits me. It’s like, ‘Wow, this is actually pretty cool.’”

Now that Eddie’s older, he wants to give back through the field. He’s planning a fundraiser to raise money for kids in need.

“If I could turn something like this, you know, something in my backyard into a greater cause, that would make me very happy. My goal is to share it with as many people as possible.”

 

WATCH: MLB umpires deliver teddy bears to hospital ahead of Opening Day

This is lovely.

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This content comes from our friends at Sportskind. 

There were some smiling faces at a New York children’s hospital all because of a few generous MLB umpires. 

Watch how kids reacted when they received 100 teddy bears delivered to their hospital.

To celebrate Opening Day, a few New York-area umpires shipped 100 Build-A-Bears, superhero outfits for them, activity books and crayons to patients at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx. 

This is a tradition that is usually done in-person but visitations are limited these days due to the pandemic. 

That’s why this year, they made sure to have everything delivered in time for first pitch. 

“We wanted to make sure you knew we hadn’t forgotten about you,” says MLB Umpire CB Bucknor. “We have your back. STAY STRONG!” 

Innovative kid does a tough basketball drill on a treadmill

Smart!

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This content comes from our friends at Sportskind. 

Zeke Vozniak is 7 years old and obsessed with basketball. 

Watch his impressive dribbling skills on a treadmill in the player above.

Zeke doesn’t miss a beat as he dribbles the basketball while facing backwards on the treadmill.

Then, he turns around, navigating his way around orange cones put down by his cousin, Remy. 

Zeke’s mom, Jaclyn Vozniak, says on rainy days, “Zeke gets on the treadmill working on his handles and footwork while dodging orange cones.” 

“Remy his cousin aka his best friend was with him and he didn’t want to be left out so we as Zeke’s parents included Remy and incorporated teamwork. Teamwork makes the dream work,” she said.

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Detroit resident builds incredible ice rink for neighborhood kids

This is wonderful.

This content comes from our friends at Sportskind. 

An abandoned neighborhood in Detroit came alive, all thanks to an empty lot and a fire truck full of water. 

Kaytea Moreno-Elst saw the lot and thought it would be a perfect place to build an ice skating rink. 

Watch kids of all ages wobble on to the homemade ice rink in the player above. 

“This rink was inspired by the freezing cold temperatures,” says Moreno-Elst. “And everything that I’ve been getting on is slippery ice so I said, why not build a rink?”

Soon, a fire department got word and donated all of the water in their truck’s tank to lay the ice down. Then, skating groups from across the community donated skates and gear. Now, the makeshift rink is full of kids and adults every single day. 

“The kids are out here every day. This is their recess, this is their after school program, this is just for them,” says Moreno-Elst. 

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Watch a Texas football coach deliver food to athletes after devastating storm

This is wonderful.

This content comes from our friends at Sportskind. 

When Coach Brad Smithey’s Texas town went dark, he sprang into action.

On most days, Coach Smithey is on the sidelines at West Oso high school coaching the football team.

But when a major winter storm hit Texas and his town of Corpus Christi, he found that so many of his athletes were living without power, food, or water.

Watch the high school football coach make and deliver meals to his athletes in the player above.

That’s when he and his wife got to work and started packing up sandwiches, snacks, and bottled water to anyone who needed them.

WATCH: Buffalo Bills fan celebrates end of cancer treatment by smashing through a table

There was only one way for this Bills fan to celebrate.

This content comes from our friends at Sportskind.

There was only one way Victor Neilson was going to celebrate the end of his cancer treatment. That’s the Buffalo Bills way, of course.

Donning a Tremaine Edmunds jersey and classic Zubaz sweatpants, this long-time fan body slammed a folding table after ringing the bell at Vanderbilt Oncology in Nashville, Tennessee.

Watch Victor’s celebration, #BillsMafia style, in the player above.

After his video went viral on Twitter with hundreds of thousands of views, he wanted to use his Internet fame for good. He has since started a GoFundMe for cancer research.

“The more people we can inspire, the better!” says Victor.

WATCH: How a motocross accident actually saved a young boy’s life

It’s rare that a horrific accident could actually save someone’s life, but that’s exactly what happened to a little boy who loves motocross.

This content comes from our friends at Sportskind.

It’s an odd thing to say that a horrific accident could actually save someone’s life, but that’s exactly what happened to a little boy who loves motocross.

When 10-year-old Alex Ciciretti flipped over the handlebars of his motocross bike and had to be airlifted to the hospital, he and his family had no idea that this accident would reveal something much scarier.

Doctors discovered an AVM, arteriovenous malformation, in Alex’s brain that would have killed him if left untreated.

Watch the moment pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Samer Elbabaa, makes the discovery of a fatal brain hemorrhage in the player above.

His parents had no idea. There were no warning signs or symptoms.

“There is a chance that most doctors wouldn’t even attempt the surgery and just leave it as it is,” says Alex Ciciretti, Sr., Alex’s dad. “Which to me is, I couldn’t live with that. Because it’s a ticking time bomb in his head.”

Alex was able to get life-saving surgery and is back on the motocross track doing what he loves.

“It’s what he wants to do. I offer him to play soccer. It’s a lot easier to play soccer, baseball, but he says, ‘No.’ He wants to ride dirt bikes.”

WATCH: Brave toddler takes first steps with the help of a Paralympian

This is a heartwarming video to watch.

This video comes from our friends at Sportskind.

A giggling toddler is a hard thing to ignore! Paralympic track-and-field champion Blake Leeper was drawn to the joyful giggles coming from the doctor’s office hallway. Leeper left his own prosthetic fitting appointment to see what was going on.

That’s when he watched two-year-old KJ take his first steps with his new prosthetic foot.

Watch the moment Leeper got on the floor to cheer on KJ at Scott Sabolich Prosthetics office in Oklahoma City.

“You’re doing great!” Leeper says to KJ, walking towards him. “You’re doing awesome!”

Leeper beat Oscar Pistorius’s T43 400 meter Paralympic World record in 2017.

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