The reason I started The November Saturdays Foundation is deeply personal. I met my former husband when I was 13 and he was growing up in foster care. I watched him move between homes and schools, struggling to find stability. Sports gave him purpose and somewhere to belong.

At 16, I was using paychecks from my first job to help buy his football equipment. At the time, I did not think of it as removing a barrier or creating access. I just knew how much football meant to him, and I wanted him to have the opportunity to play.

Repeated school changes eventually left him without the credits he needed to graduate on time. When he wanted to return to school and play football, he was advised by DHR to pursue emancipation instead. I helped him through that process, and we later married when I was 20.

After his time in organized sports ended, he struggled to find direction and eventually developed a methamphetamine addiction. During his incarceration, he told me he would lie there imagining himself back on a football field.

It made me understand how much sports had given him beyond simply playing a game. It gave him structure, identity, community and something to work toward. But it also made me realize that sports alone were never going to be enough. Young people need support beyond the field too.

I could not change what he had experienced or go back and give him the resources he needed earlier. But I knew I could take everything I had learned from loving someone through those experiences and use it to help another child before they reached that point.

That is why November Saturdays exists.

We use sports as an access point for mentorship, belonging and opportunity for young people and families facing adversity. Sometimes that means helping cover the cost of playing. Sometimes it means connecting a young person with a mentor, helping a family through a difficult season, introducing students to college and career opportunities, or simply making sure someone knows they have people in their corner.

Our first efforts helped fund participation for seven East Limestone student-athletes and support six families. Those numbers may be small compared to where I want this organization to go, but they represent exactly why I started it. Every one of those kids and families is a reminder that showing up earlier can matter.

I cannot rewrite the story that brought me here. But I can make sure it means something.

No child should be benched due to circumstance.