Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeffrey Tarver.
Jeffrey, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
From counting down the final seconds and taking the game winning shot in my backyard, to creating my own brand and affecting the lives of thousands of youth, I always knew that I was destined to achieve greatness on the grandest of stages!
While I eventually came to grips that my potential had been reached on the basketball court, I noticed that a great amount of youth in my community had all of their eggs in one basket; NBA or bust. A natural problem solver, I took it upon myself to use my experience as a player and mentor to create a quality sports program that was both exciting and educational in my local community and abroad.
Has it been a smooth road?
The journey to get to where I am today as been a challenging one but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I personally believe that the toughest battles are assigned to the most thorough soldiers and I’m built for this. From using my credit cards to fund my programs to being criticized for helping kids I didn’t know, this experience has been eye-opening to say the least. Whether it was financial, time with family and friends, loss of sleep, and loss of sanity at times, sacrifices have definitely been made and will continue to be made in order to accomplish my ultimate goal of being a global youth sports brand. The level that I aspire to reach can’t be attained by everyone so I expect the adversity to come.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Life League – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
While youth sports programs are nothing new, my business partner, JaMelle Hill, and I wanted to create an experience where your average student-athlete could live out their dreams of making it to the big leagues. It’s called LIFE League. I started the brand eight years ago as a sports mentoring program that incorporated life-skill workshops. We felt there was a need to equip our kids with the necessary skill sets to be productive in society. One thing that I noticed was that the majority of the kids in my program had aspirations of playing sports in college and being drafted to the pro level. While statistics state the majority of these kids would never make it, we wanted to give them the opportunity to experience the process.
The program simulates college recruitment, collegiate play and life as a professional athlete. Similar to creating a player on NBA 2K, player performance on and off of the court determine player outcomes. The difference is that instead of earning these results from playing the video game, the player’s performance in real life is used. This includes their on-court/field statistics as well as their grades.
The program is currently being piloted in Middle Georgia (USA) and Northeastern Brazil but starting in the 2020-2021 school year, it will be offered in larger markets including Metro Atlanta.
This will be a global brand. We’ve claimed it, and now it’s time to go and make it happen.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
The thing I love best about Atlanta is the spirit of the city as a whole. This is a city of the grinders. Known for our southern hospitality, Atlanta is place where anyone can come and make something of themselves if they have the will to win. The thing I least like about our city is the traffic!
Contact Info:
- Website: lifeleaguecoalition.com
- Phone: 770-742-7379
- Email: lifeleaguecoalition@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thelifeleague/
- Facebook: facebook.com/thelifeleague/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelifeleague
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