INDIA RISING – ESPN PRO BASKETBALL TEAM

India Rising started off as an unrealistic dream. Take the best Indian athletes, put them on one team, and prove the world wrong by competing on ESPN in the annual “The Basketball Tournament” (TBT), a 64-team competition for $1 Million Dollars.

Last year, we became the first Indian basketball team to ever play on ESPN, with over 15M people watching. This summer, we’re returning – and we need your help.

Having grown up in both the United States and overseas across India, Singapore, and Australia, I know what it means to be an “outsider” in sports. Sports is referred to as a global language, but still, we haven’t exactly found our place within the game of basketball, which is played by over 10M people in India and is the most popular sport amongst the Diaspora.

The fact is – our heroes exist, but their stories have just never been told. There are countless pro players of Indian heritage around the world. Champions. But they are spread out – succeeding individually in India, Australia, Taiwan, London, Canada. There has NEVER been a single platform to bring everyone together on the same roster – until now, with India Rising. 

Representation isn’t just about showing up in these spaces. Anybody can do that. It’s about putting our best foot forward. 

Sports is ultimately about resources. The more resources you have, the more competitive you can be. Your contributions, and I mean really, whether it’s $50 or $100, really makes a difference. Your donation means we can host a training camp, we can recruit the best players, and the little things, like saving time by renting cars instead of waiting 20+ min for an Uber in upstate New York (one of my bigger regrets from planning last year!). Your contribution means our team can focus on winning games, instead of executing logistics. 

And If I’ve learnt anything from this process, it takes a village to achieve these goals. And honestly, not just the brown community. We cannot do this on our own, we need your support.

So to support us, we have 3 ways you can do that:

1. Number one, is to support us, if you are able, by visiting our GoFundMe. We’re hoping to raise $30,000 by the end of May. If you are able to make a contribution, please know that all contributions are tax-deductible, because we’re a 501c3 Non-Profit. Every single dollar raised is going towards team expenses, like flights, accommodation, and team practices.
2. Number two, you can buy merchandise and apparel on our website, shop.brownballers.com. We have Dad Caps, T-Shirts, Hoodies, and customizable jerseys.
3. Number three, if you have a business and want to grow your brand, we have sponsorship slots available here. In-Arena Branding, Official Jersey Sponsors, ESPN TV Ads, and more. 
4. And if you can’t donate to our NonProfit, it’d mean the most if you could at least share the word by spreading this message. 

Lastly, we want you to stay updated on India Rising and you can follow us on our social media @BrownBallers. We have two big competitions this year: 

• Basketball World Cup (June 11-19; Kansas City): India Rising will compete in a round robin tournament against teams from the USA, China, Senegal, Ukraine, and Jordan.
• ESPN’s Basketball Tournament (July 27-31; New York): India Rising will compete for $1M against 64 teams in a single-elimination knockout tournament in New York.