US sportswear brand Under Armour has teamed up with three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry to launch Curry Brand, a purpose-led performance label aiming to ensure young people have equitable access to sport.
Only 22 percent of kids growing up in low-income households in the US are currently participating in youth sports, according to Under Armour, which is something Curry Brand wants to improve.
The brand will focus on partnerships providing an opportunity for youth sports in under-resourced communities - including providing apparel and equipment, creating safe places to play, and ensuring all coaches are engaged in professional development.
The brand currently spans footwear, apparel, and accessories across several categories including basketball and golf, with continued category expansion in future seasons such as running and women's.
Under Armour and Steph Curry team up for a good cause “Through the community work I've done with Under Armour for over a decade, I've learned that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not," Curry said in a statement. “All of our work together has been dedicated to creating a more equal playing field that closes the gap between those two areas. Through Curry Brand, along with the work of Ayesha and my foundation Eat.Learn.Play., I now have a long term plan to continue to address the barriers to sport that often hinder and limit a child's potential for greatness.”
Those efforts will begin in Oakland, where the brand will partner with Positive Coaching Alliance to provide professional development for every youth sports coach in the Oakland Unified School District as well as Oakland Parks, Recreation & Youth Development.
The brand aims to help more than 100,000 young athletes by 2025.
“Now more than ever, sport is an increasingly important aspect of our communities, and the fact that some young people never get the opportunity to participate is a problem,” said Patrik Frisk, CEO of Under Armour. “This problem, however, is something Under Armour and Stephen Curry felt that we could confidently work to solve together, so with our shared values in mind, we created Curry Brand to do just that.”
