[1] There are over 2,800 Upward Sports programs across the US serving hundreds of thousands of young athletes playing recreational basketball, soccer, cheerleading, flag football, and volleyball.
Upward Sports equips local churches that represent various evangelical denominations with training, playbooks, sports apparel, ministry resources, and online player registration systems to run their own leagues.
The main Upward complex is located in Spartanburg, South Carolina and is separated into three buildings.
1986 – Caz McCaslin developed a basketball program that incorporated athletic skills and Biblical values 1995 – Launched first nationwide season of Upward Sports; seven churches hosted Upward basketball leagues with several hundred players 2000 – Expanded to include soccer and basketball cheerleading 2003 – The 1,000th church hosted an Upward Sports League 2005 – Added flag football and flag football cheerleading.
Launched the first Upward Sports League in Canada 2007 – International expansion continued as a league launched in Ukraine 2007 – Military scholarship instituted for children of military men and women deployed overseas[2] 2008 – First South American league launched in Brazil 2009 – Approximately 2,600 churches worldwide host Upward Sports leagues with 520,000 children and 480,000 volunteers, coaches and referees in 46 states and four countries (Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Ukraine) 2015 - LeBron James endorses the organization via Instagram 2020 - Kevin Drake named Executive Director of Upward Sports 2021 - Expanded to include volleyball