About SAWB
Discover our passion
Student Athletes Without Borders Foundation provides sports equipment, training, clinics, clothing and other essential services to athletes and communities in developing countries around the world. We bring together a volunteer base from diverse backgrounds and skillsets to build cultural bridges through sport.
What we do
Equipment, coaching and community — delivered in person
SAWB grew out of a simple observation: talented athletes in many parts of the world train without gloves, without balls, without shoes, and without access to organized coaching. Meanwhile, teams and schools in the United States retire usable equipment every season.
We connect those two realities. Volunteers collect gear, travel to host communities, and work alongside local coaches to run clinics. Student athletes lead the sessions, and they learn as much as they teach — which is exactly the point.
Where communities identify other needs, we respond to those too: children's clothing, school visits, and community projects such as garden cleanups.
Our model
Locally led, year-round — not volunteer tourism
We deliberately limit how often our U.S.-based volunteers travel. Trips are worth taking when hands-on clinics, equipment delivery, a specific project or genuine relationship building call for them — but a trip is not what we measure.
Whenever it is practical, we put donated funding into the hands of trusted local people instead of into unnecessary travel. Local coaches and organizers know their communities, identify what is actually needed, distribute equipment, run leagues, clinics and activities, and keep programs alive between our visits. We compensate them appropriately for their own economy, as partners doing real work.
The result is continuity: sport that happens all year because the people leading it live there — with SAWB supporting that work rather than replacing it.
How we operate
Volunteer-run, on purpose
Volunteer-run organization
Nobody at SAWB draws a salary and we carry no office overhead. Donations may compensate local organizers and coaches for project work they lead year-round.
Local partnership first
Projects are shaped with host clubs, schools and coaches, who lead them locally so equipment and coaching match real needs.
Fewer trips, more continuity
We travel when a project warrants it and otherwise fund local leadership, so activity continues between visits.
Our volunteers, in the field
Photos from SAWB projects
Taken during SAWB work, alongside the athletes, coaches and communities we partner with.
Transparency
What you can verify
Registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations made through our Stripe donation page are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law, and you receive an emailed receipt at the time of your gift.
If your athletics department, school or family needs documentation before giving — or wants to speak with a volunteer before joining a project — contact us directly at info@sawb.org or (540) 383-5316.