Gutter Flight

Researchers estimate the youth sports market to reach $77 billion by 2026.¹ The global pandemic halted youth participation in sports, but numbers are increasing. Youth participate in basketball at a higher rate than any other team sport, and basketball is the best at retaining youth ages 13-17.² In response to the growing market, we used our GCG asset to form a youth basketball organization called Gutter Flight (gutterflight.xyz). Gutter Flight is a non-profit (501c3) youth basketball organization. Our mission is to provide our players with an opportunity to improve their athletic, academic, and professional skills while enhancing their knowledge of Web3.

We provide our players with the rigors of athletic competition through the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). We focus on self-discipline, positive relationship building, attention to detail, and good sportsmanship. Our coaches have years of experience at the high school level and are respected members of their local communities. In addition to athletics, we provide our players access to virtual lectures from sports scholars. Our director is a professor of culture with an emphasis on sports studies, so we value the growth of our players on and off the court. We will focus primarily on educating our players on name, image, and likeness (NIL). Lastly, we provide our players with an introduction to the knowledge and tools of Web3. We want to safely onboard as many players and their families as possible and share the possibilities of blockchain technology. Family is central to the operation and success of our organization, so we provide our families with variable access to virtual and in-real-life experiences through our digital collectibles. Gutter Flight is different from other organizations because we value the whole player (mind, body, soul) and not just their athletic capabilities.

This proposal requests $5,000 in funds to support Gutter Flight for two AAU basketball seasons: 2023 AAU Season = $2,500 2024 AAU Season = $2,500

We will use the funds in two key areas. First, we will use funds to leverage participation opportunities for youth in our community. Wealth is still a critical factor in preventing youth participation in sports, for only 13%-14% of kids from the two lower-income brackets returned to sports at a higher pre-pandemic level.² GCG values family and community, so we will use funds to support Gutter Flight players from lower-income brackets because we're all Gutter (a cap of 20% of our roster). Second, we will use funds to supplement team travel expenses (a cap of 50% per tournament). Gutter Flight is an example of how powerful the GCG community is, and we want to share the power of GCG/Web3 with communities outside our region/state. Gutter Flight aims to be a leader in our community. We can lead by example with the support of Gutter Gives and our Gutter Pigeon on our chest.

• Paw (@paw1239_) and Trapatouille (@TrapatouilleGCG)

1- Wintergreen Research Inc. (2021). Youth team, league, and tournament sports: Market shares, strategies, and forecasts, COVID-19 and Post-COVID-19, worldwide, 2021–2027. 2- Aspen Institute. (2021). State of Play Report.