Valerdi Wins TLA Award for Science of Sport

SIE Department Head Ricardo Valerdi received an award from Tech Launch Arizona at the annual I-Squared Awards. For his work on the Science of Sport, Valerdi won the #MadeItHappen award. Science of Sport provides programs for elementary and middle school students to improve their academic performance.

The nonprofit’s goal is to translate the familiarity of sports into an appreciation, understanding and passion for the underlying science and mathematics. Science of Sport accomplishes these goals through after-school programs, curriculum development, field trips, school visits, sideline chats, STEM showcases, summer camps and teacher workshops.

Today, the organization’s partnerships have expanded across the nation, where communities and professional sports have come together to promote education to advance opportunities for young people. While baseball was the initial focus, Science of Sport has expanded its curricula to football, basketball and soccer.

To date, Science of Sport has trained over 6,000 teachers and impacted the lives of over 600,000 students.

“The coolest thing about the New York Mets is that their name spelled backwards is: STEM. See how much fun that was?” Valerdi said. “That’s the goal of Science of Sport, to make math and science fun for everyone. UA has provided the ideal platform for Science of Sport to be successful: administrators who value the importance of commercialization and world-class softball and baseball programs. Batter up!”