Join us for S2:EP33 of the Sports Philanthropy Podcast as Daren Heaton and Carly Stevens sit down with our host, Roy Kessel, to discuss how Science of Sport provides educational programs designed to engage students through STEM principles.
Science of Sport is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to developing curriculum and programming that promotes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Our programs are designed to bring math and science to life through hands-on learning by providing engaging STEM programs for students and teachers.
Our curricula are designed as in school and after school interactive activities that can be delivered by teachers, coaches, parents, and volunteers. The focus on elementary and middle school students are motivated by the fact that this age group can still be influenced to make academic choices that will help them transition from primary to secondary education.
DARREN’S BIO
Daren is the Executive Director for Science of Sport and has been able to expand programming throughout the country that includes providing STEM programs for over 20 professional sports teams.. Prior to being the Executive Director, Daren was the Vice President of Business Development. Daren runs the day to day operations for Science of Sport and focuses on strategic planning on how Science of Sport provides engaging curriculum and programming throughout the country.
Daren previously worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks and has been in the sports industry for 10+ years. During his time with the D-backs he was the Manager of Education Initiatives, which managed all education programs in the community through the Sales Department and started the first D-backs Science of Baseball program. Heaton also worked for the Los Angeles Galaxy from 2009 to 2011 where he was a Group Sales Account Executive. He got his start in sports by completing the Inside Sales program with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008.
Daren was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona and graduated from Texas A and M – Corpus Christi where he played college baseball. Daren hobbies include watching/playing any sports and trying to shoot under 90 on the golf course on a regular basis.
CARLY’S BIO
Carly is a native of Chicago and graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a BBA in Sports Management in 2015. She loves sports and is passionate about many of them – tennis, basketball, football – however, she played and excels at soccer. Carly was the 2011 Chicago Tribune Girls High School Soccer Player of the Year her senior year of high school. She was an All American and played Division I college soccer at Loyola. She began coaching soccer teams after graduation and began her career in sports working for the WNBA Chicago Sky in community relations and game operations. Carly worked as an Internal Operations Coordinator for a Chicago based sports marketing agency, in addition to coaching two youth girls’ soccer teams.
Carly currently resides in the Los Angeles area and is a soccer coach with the LA Galaxy South Bay travel soccer program. She loves teaching the game of soccer to the next generation of youth athletes. She hopes to instill the spirit of teamwork, competition and sportsmanship so the players can experience some of the same challenges and joy soccer has brought to her life.
HIGHLIGHTS OF SCIENCE OF SPORT PODCAST
- 00:30 Daren’s Background with Diamondbacks and LA Galaxy
- 04:30 Importance of education in sports and getting kids to STEM
- 09:00 Ricardo uses STEM to get kids interested in baseball
- 10:30 Analytics impact on sports
- 13:00 Need of money for staff
- 15:00 Launch of Science of Sport in 2013
- 18:30 Partner with MLB Youth Academy
- 22:30 Carly involvement with soccer
- 25:00 Looking at hitter tendencies in baseball
- 28:00 Importance of wearable technology
- 40:00 Darren as Commissioner of MLB
- 42:00 Carly as Commissioner of FIFA
SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
YouTube: Science of Sport (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-knCxjr7xKJohaSW-U2LQQ)
Instagram: Scienceof_sport
Facebook: SciencesportAZ
Twitter: Scienceofsport_
Website: http://sciencesport.org/
