Jazmine A. Smith is the founder of Eyekonz Sports League, the only Field Hockey & Lacrosse league for African American Girls in the United States of America. Jazmine A. Smith was born in North Philadelphia and later moved to Radnor Twp. with her mother to live with her maternal grandparents after her mother\u2019s diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis and legally blind. When Jazmine was seven years old her late grandmother Julia Williams introduced her to sports such as; field hockey, lacrosse and basketball. From that moment Jazmine\u2019s grandmother knew what sports would do for her, especially with the transitions that were currently going on in her life at that time. It was not long before Jazmine began to take a love for sports and participating both locally and nationally on school and traveling teams playing all three sports. While attending Radnor High School, Jazmine received many awards\/ acknowledgments for playing at the top level for field hockey, lacrosse and basketball. In 1994 while attending Radnor High School Jazmine received national attention for being crowned the first African American Homecoming Queen at Radnor High School, making history. Jazmine also received The National Honor Guard for High School Seniors recognized by the White House under the Clinton administration for her academic achievement. Jazmine accepted a full scholarship to play field hockey and basketball at Kutztown University. After a few successful years playing collegiate level sports, Jazmine was offered a job to work for Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles CA. For over 6 years Jazmine worked for the Kobe Bryant Family Entertainment Company in the Marketing Department. <\/p>\n
After moving back home to assist her grandmother, Jazmine began working for The Department of Transportation of Pennsylvania in the marketing construction department for 6 years. Shortly after working for Penndot, Jazmine became a full time caregiver to both mother and grandmother. Witnessing a lot of the challenges that her family was facing due to the budget cuts and etc., Jazmine began a non \u2013 profit based on the conditions she witnessed for disabled\/elderly person in Pennsylvania. named \u201cVictory for Vera\u201d. The organization was named after her mother and Jazmine wanted to ensure that others did not have to face the same conditions trying to receive help for elderly and disabled persons as they did. Throughout that journey with Victory for Vera, Jazmine begin working with notable politicians such as Congressman Patrick Meehan, Senator Dylan Leach, Senator Vincent Hughes, to name a few. Shortly after Jazmine and her mother suffered a five alarm house fire and in that duration Jazmine used that experience of loss to revamp her sports program for girls named \u201cEyekonz Sports League\u201d. Eyekonz Sports League is geared for African American , Latina girls developing both the athlete and the Queen within. Jazmine developed Eyekonz Sports League to address the lack of non traditional sports in urban communities and African American girl\u2019s ages 5-18 years old. (Will be adding boy\u2019s lacrosse this summer). Eyekonz Sports has over 160 kids that participate in learning how to play field hockey and lacrosse. . Alongside with teaching field hockey and lacrosse, Eyekonz also has a curriculum of learning to prepare the girls for life such as African\/Kemtic \/African-American History, Etiquette, Meditation\/Yoga, Conversation of Self Love, Daily Affirmations ( The I AM mirror affirmation), Financial Literacy, Creating Dream boards, Healthy Eating and Lifestyle choices. Eyekonz Sports League has also partnered up with Drexel University\u2019s Engineering Department to create opportunities for the children to gain access into this growing field. <\/p>\n
Eyekonz Sports Leagues conducts instructional clinics, manages its club\/school teams, and coaches. Eyekonz is not only a club league, they also develop teams at public and charter schools. And to this date Eyekonz has created 14 public\/charter school teams\/programs throughout the City of Philadelphia, such as Strawberry Mansion High school, Sayre High School and Girard College. to name a few. Just recently Eyekonz Sports League partnered with The Department of State of the United States to create teams in Africa and India. Eyekonz has partnered with the USA Field Hockey Olympic Team, USA Field Hockey Association, USA Lacrosse Association, and the United Women\u2019s Professional Lacrosse League. Jazmine truly believes in the holistic positive change field hockey and lacrosse offers her girls, both short-term and long-term, and has committed herself to advocating for the sport in local, state and federal government and within the Philadelphia School District .Jazmine’s heart and unwavering investment in her girls is undeniable. She cares about the complete well-being of the girls, and has included an outstanding mindfulness curriculum including free healthy meal options at every weekly practice.<\/p>\n
For two years in a row Eyekonz Sports League has been chosen as a host cite due their commitment for girls and sports for Olympic Day hosted by The International Olympic Association Inc. A global event for sports and the Olympic Community
\nOn June 13-16, 2016, Jazmine was invited by The White House to attend The United State of Women Summit. The summit will highlight phenomenal women change-makers, inspiring women and girls to “be the change”, globally. And in September Jazmine was nominated for Champion of Change Award by The White House, where she attended The White House .<\/p>\n
Tournaments Eyekonz has hosted-
\n\u201cOlympic Day\u201d- The International Olympic Association Inc.
\n\u201cYouth Sports Day\u201d \u2013 The United States Congress
\n\u201cThe United Nations\u201d- The United Nations (New York)
\n\u201cNelson Mandela International Day\u201d- The Nelson Mandela Organization
\n\u201cParks and Recreation Day\u201d- Parks and Recreation Department (Washington D.C)<\/p>\n
Eyekonz has been featured in ESPN, Huffington post, NowThis, essence magazine, NYTIMES, Refinery 29, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Tribune, etc. <\/p>\n
Jazmine holds a Bachelors Degree in Woman Studies and public policy and minor in communication
\nJazmine Serves on the The Cheyney University Foundation Board<\/p>\n
Eyekonz Mission
\nOur Mission is to Empower, Educate and Motivate the next generation of field hockey and lacrosse Olympians. It is our belief, that through the structure and development of playing field hockey, we will provide our girls & boys with the skill set and development they need in areas such as sportsmanship, healthy lifestyle, team work, self- esteem, history of their culture, healthy body image and academic achievement. This will translate into a wholesome productive lifestyle, on and off the field.Eyekonz Field Hockey and Lacrosse was established to serve the needs of young African-American Latina and Latino girls & boys ages 5-18 in the Greater Philadelphia area and beyond. Eyekonz utilizes field hockey and lacrosse as a tool to teach life lessons like hard work, sportsmanship, self discipline, healthy self esteem and coping skills. Players from K to 12th grade are able to develop as athletes and individuals, while competing in local and regional tournaments. Eyekonz is a year round lacrosse and field hockey sports league directed by Jazmine A Smith. Eyekonz Sports is for committed players who show a passion and commitment to the game. Our girls continue to gain knowledge of how to learn the basic technical skills associated with field hockey and lacrosse, as well as advanced skills, in an effort to prepare them to compete against other teams in Philadelphia and other teams in the United States. Throughout this league, they will also have curriculum that are designed to prepare them for life, such as African\/Kemetic \/African-American history, Hispanic History ,etiquette, mediation\/yoga, self love, daily affirmations, finical literacy, visualization exercises, healthy eating and lifestyle choices. Eyekonz Sports League, the creator of Eyekonz Field Hockey and Lacrosse, has also partnered with Drexel University\u2019s Engineering Department to create opportunities for the girls & boys to gain access into this growing field. Our girls & boys must also complete 8 hours of community service within their neighborhood, as well as have their school report cards reviewed to ensure academic standards are being met. We offer this unique approach to our league to create a platform for success within our community, while providing the tools necessary to foster the next generation to achieve whatever they put their minds to.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.3.1″ src=”https:\/\/wopat.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/FB_IMG_1553097090166.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.3.1″] Jazmine A. Smith is the founder of Eyekonz Sports League, the only Field Hockey & Lacrosse league for African American Girls in the United States of America. Jazmine A. Smith was born in North Philadelphia and later moved to Radnor Twp. with her mother to live with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wopat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wopat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wopat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wopat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wopat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wopat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":858,"href":"https:\/\/wopat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/816\/revisions\/858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wopat.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}