What is Fayetteville Homeschool Sports, and who do you serve? [20 Aug 24]

I've been asked several times to explain Fayetteville Homeschool Sports, and I realized I've never written down who we are and why we exist. Homeschool opportunities are becoming increasingly regular with the recent surge of homeschooling across the United States. Although my wife and I never thought we'd be a homeschool family, it has become such a rewarding way to raise our family that we can't imagine returning to traditional schooling. With this as the backdrop, I realized there was a potential gap in our children's opportunities to grow athletically and to compete at higher levels in school sports.

In the Spring of 2023, we were introduced to the idea of our son playing on the local homeschool soccer team, the Fayetteville Homeschool Crusaders. It answered our prayers, as we'd been seeking competitive opportunities for our son to play soccer without having to join a travel team at 11 years old. That summer, he tried out for the Crusaders middle school boys' soccer team and was selected. We haven't looked back since.

 As the season progressed, I engaged the director of the Crusaders, inquiring about other sports opportunities, and he mentioned a few small teams here and there that had basketball for boys and volleyball for girls. Nothing was being done specifically in Fayetteville at the time in any sports other than the Crusaders boys' and girls' soccer and cross country. So, I asked what about starting our basketball program. His answer was one of positivity and encouragement. "If you want to lead the effort, I'll assist you with figuring it out."

This was the challenge I didn't know I was looking for, so I jumped on it and ran with it. I had no idea how to run a basketball program, yet I coordinated gym time and worked with the Crusaders director to schedule games, gym time, and uniforms.

The 2023/24 Basketball season as the Fayetteville Homeschool Crusaders was successful because we had nine girls and eleven boys play on our middle school teams. I coached the middle school boys, and a homeschool mom coached the girls' middle school team. We even joined a small school conference and competed in an end-of-season tournament. Although we didn't win the championship, we were excited for follow-on seasons.

During the basketball season, I filed for and was approved as a North Carolina Non-Profit and IRS 501(c)3. This allowed our programs to receive tax-free donations and gave us the legal protections needed to grow. This was critical for the long-term growth of homeschool sports as we need to be able to receive tax-free donations to keep costs affordable.

After our season, the Director of the Crusaders and I sat down and discussed moving forward in future seasons. It became apparent to us both that our roles were more than we thought they'd be, and we needed to change to ensure each program had quality management and coaching. We decided to continue to have an overarching Non-Profit that covers all homeschool sports in Fayetteville and helps define our programs and roles.

With that, there was an established homeschool set of teams, the Crusaders, with boys and girls soccer and cross country. Those interested  parents, coaches, and admins will run all additional sports under the Fayetteville Homeschool Sports Inc. banner and be known as "Outliers." What is an "Outlier?" and why choose that as the team's name? It has multiple meanings, and we chose it based on its mathematical definition: a statistical observation markedly different in value from the others in the sample. As homeschoolers and, by extension, homeschool athletes, we stand out. We are embracing this and looking to set the example as high-character, competitive athletes who lead by example.

What does this mean for homeschool sports in Fayetteville? It's a considerable win as we have an IRS-approved 501(c)3 Non-Profit status and all the legal coverage to seek out and grow through financial donations. We also have an infrastructure that supports growth into future homeschool sports that families may be interested in running or supporting.

This coming school year's sports program has boys' soccer (Crusaders), co-ed cross-country (Crusaders), boys' and girls' basketball (Outliers), and girls' soccer (Crusaders) already scheduled and planned. There is always room for boys' spring volleyball, co-ed sand volleyball, baseball, girls' volleyball, and other sports for this season or next. If you see us on social media or locally discussing Fayetteville Homeschool Sports and you're wondering what they are and who they serve, the answer is simple: We serve the local homeschool community to ensure homeschool athletes can compete in school sports at a competitive level.

Brett Chivers is the President of Fayetteville Homeschool Sports Inc. It is an IRS-approved Non-Profit 501(c)3 and operates in the greater Fayetteville area. If you are interested in hearing more about Fayetteville Homeschool Sports and would like to get you and your family involved, please reach out to them at outliers@fayhomeschoolsports.org or visit their website @ https://fayhomeschoolsports.org/