Play NC was founded in 2018 by Ryan Mentock. He was inspired by attending a Miracle League of the Triangle game in 2017 and saw the players wearing their team’s jerseys, with for-profit business sponsors on the back. He imagined a format where the situation was flipped, with Miracle League’s logo on the back of a for-profit team’s jersey. After our scope of work and general concept evolved between 2018-2020, Play NC successfully settled on the “Play for Charity” model in 2021 that we currently use today.
Mission: Play NC hosts recreational sports and games to raise awareness and donations for local charity sponsors.
Method: Play NC charges entry fees for people to participate in our games. These fees cover our expenses related to hosting the game, plus a ~20%-30% profit margin. This profit is then distributed through donations to our 19 local charity partners based on the outcomes of our games.
Motive: To make every game, everywhere, meaningful.
Our goal is to give every recreational sports game a purpose beyond the playing field. Play NC is trying to make donations more fun and provides local non-profits with an outlet to interact with the community in ways that don’t involve just asking for money. We focus on providing a high-quality game first, then try to make enough profit to provide significant financial support to local causes. Participating in Play NC competitions means you’re helping something greater than the game you’re playing, which we believe makes the game more fun.
Our greatest successes are when players become volunteers. Through participating in a Play NC league, players will learn about our charities, the work they do for our community, and hopefully understand why we choose to support them. We have connected dozens of people with causes they can relate with, who may not have known about the charity without our network of organizations. We won’t be these organization’s largest donors, but we can still do the most good by engaging potential volunteers and promoting our partners through our network of local players.
We hope you’ll play!