Sisters-in-Service
Are you a women veteran who feels unseen and unheard? Do you struggle with finding your purpose after service? Sisters-in-Service is a podcast that gives women veterans the platform to talk about those exact issues and more. Hear from other veterans, military spouses and Veteran Service Organizations (VSO) just like you that have overcome their transition from the military. Every Tuesday this podcast encourages women veterans to stand up and be counted because as a group we have a voice. From your host - Cat Corchado - The Voice Connecting Women Veterans
Sisters-in-Service
Building Community and Resilience on the Court with Military Basketball Association (MBA) Commissioner Michael Meyers
Ever wondered how a passion for basketball can transform lives? Join us in an exclusive conversation with Michael Myers, the inspiring commissioner of the Military Basketball Association (MBA). Michael takes us through his remarkable journey from Army enlistment to overcoming a life-changing medical evacuation in 2007. You'll hear firsthand about his resilience, leadership, and strategic mindset, as well as the pivotal role basketball played in his recovery. Discover how he and co-founder Angel Acevedo established the MBA with a mission to create community and highlight critical issues like suicide prevention and post-traumatic stress injury.
Military service demands immense personal sacrifices, and Michael's story is no exception. We dive into the intense transition from training to real-life combat and the heavy toll it takes on soldiers and their families. Michael shares personal anecdotes about his struggles with separation, PTSD, and the emotional healing process, including the touching bond he developed with his daughter during his recovery. His heartfelt reflections offer a window into the everyday challenges faced by military families and the incredible strength required to navigate them.
The episode wraps up with an inspiring look at the significant milestones achieved by the MBA, despite the hurdles of stigma and career risks associated with mental health in the military. From an initial vision to a feature on CBS Sports Network, Michael recounts the MBA's journey of growth and its expansive impact. Learn about the association’s future goals, including raising $11.5 million annually to fund suicide prevention and therapeutic services. Get involved by supporting their cause, attending events, and following their inspiring mission on social media. This episode is a must-listen for anyone moved by stories of resilience, community, and the transformative power of sports.
https://www.mymbaglobalcom
Welcome to Sisters in Service podcast. Most of you know me as a strong advocate for women veterans in being recognized not only as veterans but also as women who are changing the world through our passion of serving even after service. This podcast is my passion, by telling all the stories of military brats, military spouses, active duty and veterans, not to forget the veteran service organizations that help us along our transition journey. I want to thank you in advance for listening. I hope that you will join me. Every week, a new podcast and episode comes out every Tuesday, so I hope that you will join and I hope that you enjoy. This podcast is brought to you by Small Space Pilates. Are you ready to get fit and fabulous from the comfort of your own home? Look no further than Small Space Pilates. With live online Pilates and strength training classes, a video library and a no perfection allowed policy, you can achieve your fitness goals without ever leaving your house. Click on the link for your complimentary week and start your journey to feeling fabulous today.
Speaker 1:Welcome everyone to another episode, our latest episode of Sisters in Service. You know me I am the freaking fabulous Kat Corchato host of Sisters in Service, and I have an amazing guest for you today, mike Myers. He is the end-all and be-all for Military Basketball Association. Did I say it right? That's correct, but before we do that, let's introduce him. So I am going to introduce Michael Myers. He is the current commissioner of the Military Basketball Association, also known as NBA, and has been a dedicated volunteer head coach for over 20 years. He's a retired 23-year Army combat veteran and he joined the Army in 2000 and used basketball to stay resilient after being medically evacuated in 2007. And so he founded the NBA with Angel Acevedo, and he provides a platform for military athletes, volunteer coaches and players, and the NBA fosters a sense of community, but also raises awareness for important issues like suicide prevention and post-traumatic stress injury. Michael, welcome to Sisters in Service.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thank you so much, Kat, I really appreciate it. It's been an honor to be here to just talk with you about what it means to be a veteran, and you know what we're doing in the Military Basketball Association and I'm just honored because you do so much for veterans across the world.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you. I'm glad that you know you had a stopping point, because you're just everywhere at the same time, which I'm kind of jelly. I'm just going to say I'm a little jealous because you get to travel to all these amazing places. But before we get into the NBA and how you came up with this idea for it, as a combat army veteran, did you pick the army or did the army pick you?
Speaker 2:pick the army or did the army pick you? I picked the army. You know I had, 24 years ago, 25 years ago almost, you know I had the opportunity to. I was in school and I just a bug got on me and I was like, hey, you need to join the military. So I interviewed quite a you know a couple of services. I interviewed the Navy. I talked to I interviewed the Navy, I talked to the Air Force, I talked to Marine Corps, through the Navy, and then the Army recruiter came by and was just like, hey, you know, we've got all the jobs, we've got, you know, some really cool stuff you can do, you don't? You know it was pre 9-11, so I just fell in love with what the Army had to. You know it was pre 9-11. So I just, you know, I fell in love with what the Army had to offer.
Speaker 1:You know, and it's been an amazing ride, you know, 23 years later, 24 years later, Now, did you intend on staying 20 plus years, or was it kind of like, let me see what this is about? Or did you know, because very few people go in the military saying I'm doing 20 years? Was that your intention?
Speaker 2:No, I initially I wanted to go. I wanted to. I enlisted first, so I had did my enlisted time and then, you know, I, after my first enlistment, I, you know I automatically crossed over and became, became an officer, went, went green to gold. You know, at that point, you know, once you get to about the seven or eight year mark, that's when you're like, yeah, I'm going to retire and so that's, that's kind of the path I've been on. It became a way of life and so. But no, no one really goes in the military thinking that they're going to spend, you know, 20 plus years in the service. But but that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. That's what happened with me too. So I'm going to ask you kind of a spicy question Did you like being enlisted better or being an officer?
Speaker 2:officer. Yeah, you know that's a great question. I actually had a conversation with someone this weekend about that. You know, ncos lead the way. That's a saying, I guess, across all the services. They are the backbone of what you know, what the military decides to do in any operation.
Speaker 2:But I ask too many questions and I'm a natural leader and I liked leading and planning different operations and you know, I around my third year as a soldier, I just decided, you know, it's best to go ahead and take that, you know, take on that responsibility of leadership. So, um, I have spent 18 years as a as an army officer, and so I enjoyed every last minute of it. I learned a lot of things but, um, yeah, if I had, if you asked me to do it again, I would certainly, you know, potentially I would. I would go to West Point and be an academy graduate and all that and do it immediately as soon as I was 18 years old. That's not to say that people shouldn't enlist, because our enlisted force is important. We can't do anything without the enlisted community.
Speaker 1:I never had the desire to be an officer, only because I think I didn't know I was a leader. I don't think I knew I was a leader until after I got out of the military and I said, oh wow, I can do all of this stuff. So I find it interesting that at a young age you already knew you were a leader.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, I mean, I have, you know. I say this. People ask me, you know. Well, you know what's the thing that shapes you. You know what did your parents give you? You know my father was a minister and they were both coming. You know they were out of the civil rights movement but they were leaders. My mom was, you know, had, you know, three years in medical school before she had me. So I look at you know their, the way they do things, and my dad was just an amazing organizational leader. You know building churches and different things. Leader. You know building churches and different things. And my mother just liked to win, and so you know those, the combination of those two attributes that they, you know, kind of instilled in me. You know I had that at a very, very young age. I mean, I was, you know, doing leadership, so you had no choice.
Speaker 2:Well, it's really no. I had a choice. I could have been a follower, and there's oftentimes Not with two strong parents like that you know Right, but yeah, I mean you, eventually you just learn that you don't.
Speaker 2:You embrace the role that is really your destiny. And so I really embraced being a leader, you know, and taking the responsibility. And being a leader is not like, okay, I'm in charge. Being a leader is about helping people and doing the things and making the plans and taking the steps to help people, and that's what I decided to do, what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1:I had some great leaders in in the military and I can't believe I'm going to say this All the leaders that I considered to be really great were men. The women were not so much, and they taught me some amazing things, and I don't know what they saw in me, but they really helped me along. So I have to give kudos to all of my my supervisors. Now I know that you were deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Was there a mind shift change being deployed? I mean, did you have to change how you? I'm trying to find the word so when in the military, when you know when you go? I had to go to Korea and you kind of have to put yourself in this bubble in order to survive as an officer and and an employment. You can't do that because you're looking out for other people. How did that? Did that change your perspective at all?
Speaker 2:A little bit. I want to go back to what you said about the women leaders and men leaders. Right, I just got in contact with Colonel Amy Cronin. She was my first company commander when I was a second lieutenant in the military and she just changed out command and what an incredible female leader I had never deployed before.
Speaker 2:She was tough on me sometimes when there were things that she expected Um. She was tough, uh, on me sometimes when, you know, there were things that she expected Um, and there were times where she, you know, as a leader, she said, you know, figure it out. You know, as a captain, she told me to figure it out, um, I'm the second lieutenant, I'm, we're both trying to figure it out. But, you know, or as a, um, her as a, you know, I think she was, she's a, she just changed out from the 101st, you know, um, dsb, um to, to, just, I just had a rush of memories of what she taught me Um, I would not have been an efficient convoy commander. You know, with all those like convoys that I went on without her mentorship and actual like leadership, right, so I your experience might've been different than mine because, um, my first experience in leadership, real leadership, um, as an active duty officer, was with, you know, colonel, colonel Crony Right, and so I, I, you know, uh, I think there's some, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 1:I think there are some great female leaders out there.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's all I was trying to say, like between 1980 and 2000.
Speaker 1:And so for me to see a female major or female Fulbright Colonel was you know that was? Like, and I understand, you know, and that's saying they didn't exist, I just never saw them, and so a lot of the female leaders that I saw were very aggressive even towards the people that that were under them, and it was just very abrasive to me. And now I see you know women leaders. I'm like, wow, where was she when I was?
Speaker 2:Well, I will tell you, I'm so, I was so lucky to have to have you know her. You know, just, I mean literally when I say save my life, like some of the things that I learned when I deployed. So, and just to come back to what your original question was, was that you know, hey, what was your mindset? How did you change and shift? I needed that skill set before I went to a forward support company and, you know, train and prepare my unit. I mean, you know you're a lieutenant, you know. So what is it that you know when you go anywhere? Right, but I did take what was in my toolkit to my unit and I was very, you know, efficient at going from one place to another and getting everybody back safe, and that was something that she, something that, uh, that she instilled in me. And so, when you talk about mindset, and mindset changes, um, the importance of leadership, the importance of where I was, my new assignment, like where I was going, cause I was I went to a unit that was, you know, um, uh, highly kinetic, and a unit that was, you know, highly kinetic and out, you know, in the community and we it was, you know there were a lot of it was a threat. There was a definite threat there.
Speaker 2:And so you shift from your training, you know, to your training you know to, okay, this is for real and this is for keeps. And so some of the decisions that you make, um, you know they, they have consequences and they can have life threatening consequences or life saving consequences, and so, um, fortunately for me, I was able to, uh, you know, make a shift into that. And sometimes there are uh sacrifices or there are things that you put away, like I, I didn't uh talk to my, my kids, or my, my child, my, I had one kid at a time. I just was completely focused on, you know, coming back to the States, and you know you have to shift into the acceptance of your situation, acceptance that you're on this deployment, you're not going back home until it's all done or said and done. You're not going back home until it's all done or said and done. And once you get to that acceptance, then your mindset's like, okay, what do we need to do to accomplish today? And then you live to fight another day. That's the thing.
Speaker 1:I always wanted to do that. No-transcript.
Speaker 2:I really didn't have a choice. I came back medically evacuated. I had a heart condition which was just kind of strange my oldest daughter, who's 23 years old now she was six at the time, five or six, Five when we left, six when I came back, and when you come back from a deployment, I had adjustment disorder. I had post-traumatic stress hadn't been diagnosed yet but I had all these different things that were going on. And so, um, I knew that, you know, my uh former wife was, was still over there, and so when I, I was just back in my house by myself, I, you know, I thank God for my, my uh younger brother, because he took care of my home and everything. I didn't want to be alone, Um, and so when my, my parents, uh, well, I wanted to see my daughter, you know, I just wanted to see her.
Speaker 2:And so I was already having these issues with not wanting to be like, you know, not let my my brother go home, um, to his family. I was like, hey, you know, stay the night, let's play some more video games or something. And when my mom saw me, she said you look different, and she dropped my child off and I couldn't let her go back. So my, my daughter, ended up staying with me, but I wasn't. I really should not have taken her back, but I did. So what happened was she became my best friend. It was just weird. Like a little six or seven year old kid is like your, your best friend. So we went everywhere. But she understood that, you know, daddy wasn't the same right, I was a little different.
Speaker 2:So we and the example of that was I would go to the PX or I'd go to the store and I'd buy all these things to build, like you know, shelves and desk, and you know cause? You know you're back from deployment and you have money. So you, you go buy stuff. So I'm, I'm, I'm buying things and putting things together. And she's like helping me, you know, put stuff together. And so we're putting, we're building things together. And then I feel bad because she's not like my little worker. So I was like, hey, you know, let's go to Chuck E Cheese or we'll go to a place to go eat or whatever, and we'll go there. And some days we had fun. Some days we would go to Chuck E Cheese, get there, and they're so busy and it messed with my mental anxiety and so loud, we would get there and five minutes later I'd say I don't feel good. Baby girl, uh, I need to go home. And she, okay, he just kids are intuitive, they know.
Speaker 1:And on top of the fact, when you said, well, maybe it sounds really weird, no, it doesn't. She got to spend time with daddy yeah, that's huge, yeah, and and I knew something was wrong, but she knew that she wanted to be with daddy and that being with daddy helped daddy, but it also helped her too, and it probably solidified your relationship.
Speaker 2:It did. I mean, yeah, we've been close for years, but you know, kids get older, so they get their own lives.
Speaker 1:They always come back. I'm just going to tell you that they always come back.
Speaker 2:They do, they do. I mean, look, she's a graduate of UT in physics and I'm very proud of her a graduate of UT in physics, and I'm very proud of her. But those are the sacrifices that you make from service, and I would do it all over again. But it was definitely interesting how we watched the same TV shows together, and this is for maybe two and a half months before her mom got back. You know, we just hung out like you know, two, two. That's so cool, though I think that's very cool.
Speaker 1:I do have to tell you you don't know the effect of things on your kids. So my child is in his forties and him and my daughter-in-law came to stay with us for a little while, you know, or not a little while. They came to visit and I was a single parent in the military and the military was kind of like that. I don't know what else to do. Let me go in the service. Okay, Till I figure it out and yes, it took me 20 years to figure it out until I figure it out and yes it took me 20 years to figure it out.
Speaker 1:I just slipped that in there. But I just learned from my son he hated the moving. He goes. I hated it. I had to make new friends and I'm like, you never told me that. And he goes. Well, I knew that you were doing the best you could, but I really hated having to make new friends and I said you're so good at it, you know when I would see him. So it's it's, it's how you know. It affects kids differently, I think. But let's segue into basketball. When did you, when did that become a thing for you?
Speaker 2:But segue into basketball. When did you? When did that become a thing for you? You come out of the military, you in my organization. Now, we didn't know each other, but we were all deployed at the same time in the same location, and so my deputy commissioner was at Camp Liberty in Baghdad. My conference commissioner was in. He was actually playing basketball. That's how we met. We met over there playing basketball and then, you know, several other of my friends and associates you know were deployed at the same time. We just didn't know each other, but basketball has always been a part of me. I've been playing since I was 11 years old. I've been coaching since I was 20. And so you know, it's just been a part of me.
Speaker 2:Now I used it to reintegrate and go from, you know, a you know suffering to surviving, to thriving type of mentality, to thriving type of mentality. In the last, in starting in 2013, 13, 2013, I was my psychologist psychiatrist was like hey, I need to put this in your records for me to help you. And I was like, okay, I had some hesitation about it because we're talking 11 years ago. The stigma that exists in in behavioral health, I mean that's, that's what you wanted to try to avoid. I mean, career progression is extremely hard. Um, if you've got, if you're taking anxiety medication and your command finds out and all that good stuff.
Speaker 1:So or even if you have a clearance I mean, when I was in, if you admitted to any kind of mental, you know you needed something they could pull your clearance for, you know and you may or may not get it back.
Speaker 2:You may not get it back. I mean, they could put your clearance under review or or suspend it and, pending the outcome of whatever they want to say, the outcome is and you know, because that was the thing about mental health there was just a stigma there. I used basketball to change the stigma. I used it to get myself reintegrated, to be grounded as an outlet, you know, as coaching young men and helping them train, and, fortunately for me, I just I was fortunate enough to win. I was able to win some pretty big tournaments and I realized this was fun, this is a really fun thing to do, but it didn't have any organization or any point to it, and so you know I have a good idea there. He said hey, start an association that does all of the things that it's had done been beneficial to you but also is a connector for other people in the military community, and that's that's where we're at.
Speaker 1:So you, you and Angel founded the MBA in 2017, correct, yes, in 2017, correct.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, okay. And so you know we always have these great ideas. Was there a moment when you just go what the hell did we get ourselves into? Did you ever have this moment? There have been several moments like that, because it sounds so great. You're like, yeah, great ideas, we got all this and then you hit a roadblock. But what I found in military veterans is that we're like, okay, there's a wall there. How do I get over it? How do I get around it? How do I get through it? Do I dig under it? We find ways to get through it. So did you find those types of moments while you were trying to build this.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, we did. The first thing is so, angel's a retired first sergeant, so he was 25 years, he's retired, so he's my battle buddy. He's the enlisted guy to my officer. Right Springs is we were, you know, we were like we'd come from an event. I'd come from an event in 2017.
Speaker 2:That was not, um, in the spirit of what we do, and uh, and I had tried to make some changes and you know, they respectfully declined, you know, my input, and so we didn't have a seat at the table. We didn't even have a table, we just so. But a lot of the volunteer coaches said, hey, we got to do something. So that's the leadership part. And I stepped forward and I said, all right, let's go, let's do it. So he got to work and said, hey, you know, why don't you come to Colorado and do something up here? And I said, okay, we'll organize a tournament in Colorado.
Speaker 2:And then I started thinking about there's no league, there's no global organization that's running this. So I very, very quickly came up with an idea. I pitched it to him. I said what do you think about this? We're going to start an association of coaches and teams and we're going to call it the NBA. And you know what he said Okay, no. He said Mike. You said it sounds kind of cheesy to me. He said it sounds kind of cheesy to me. He said it sounds kind of cheesy to me, that's kind of cheesy. And so I was like, oh man. So I was like, well, we'll figure something out, we'll figure out what to call it.
Speaker 2:But then I started really thinking about it and I called him back and I said hey, man, this is what's going to be called. I mean, this is what we're going to do. He was like all right, no problem, this is, let's go. So we got everything together, we got it in order. But when you do anything and you start anything, you know you're going to have people that were naysayers and they laughed at us, people that you know didn't want us to bring this forward. They laughed, they tried to do things to throw us off our game and we learned some really valuable lessons. But the time that I said what the heck have I gotten myself into? Was probably when we got on television with CBS Sports Network. That's when I realized this is on television. So you need to really you know, you've got to really amp this up. It was all fun and games before.
Speaker 1:It was like hey, some guys playing basketball, but now Now you have a spotlight on you and people are asking you questions.
Speaker 2:People are asking me questions. You're on news networks, you've got marketing considerations, your message is suicide prevention. So you have to look engaged, be engaged, feel engaged, and so does everybody that's working underneath you. So when we started, you know, getting numbers of like 150,000 that we've reached in a month and all that I had to stop. You know, I used to post political stuff on my social media page and just voice my opinion, and the bottom line is is that everything that we do has to be inclusive, it can't be divisive, and so that's when everything kind of changed. We stopped participating in conversations or chats or rhetoric or even efforts that were divisive or that could be construed as divisive, and so that's just where we are. I mean, there have been challenges be construed as divisive, and so that's just where we are. I mean it was it's, but it's it did have. There have been challenges. Um, there have been attempts to stop us from doing what we're doing, but that's when you know you're on track.
Speaker 2:You're haters yeah, oh, I have. You know, I have quite a few of those. There's a, but not too many. I mean, this is a great time. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:There's a quote that I saw and I keep repeating it, that people or organizations that talk behind your back, they're behind you for a reason.
Speaker 2:That's right. Okay, I mean yeah so you know.
Speaker 1:so I want to ask you this question who is the NBA for? Is it for military veterans? Is it for men and women? Is it for spouses? Who is it for?
Speaker 2:The NBA is for everybody and that's I don't say that lightly it's for veterans, it's for active duty, it's for DOD civilians and DOD contractors. It's for dependents. It's for dependents. There's something for everyone. If you are a veteran and you can't play basketball anymore, but you can get out to one of our events and meet people from the VA or get involved with recruiting services because you want to join the military, you want to play in the NBA, there's something for everyone. And so that kind of makes up our you know our mantra of life through basketball. You know we want people to stop choosing to use harmful behaviors and we want them to choose basketball, and we believe that sports is the uniting piece and connective tissue for people in this country. So we may all come from different walks of life, we may be Black, white, hispanic, jewish, muslim, whatever, and we may have political and ideological differences in that regard, but we all love sports. This country was founded on sports and so it was not to say founded on sports, but sports has played a significant role in Ali and the Olympics, so lots of figures and sports and events have come to place, and everyone's an American when we're doing that right.
Speaker 2:So now we have this epidemic, this scourge of suicides in our country epidemic, this scourge of suicides in our country, and everyone has different ways of how they want to fight it and combat it, and I don't care, use them all. The bottom line is that we've got to do something and if you're not raising the awareness around what is happening with our veterans, our veteran community or even our active duty community, then you're failing. Because people are. They're like oh yeah, the suicide rate's high, but you know well. So what are you doing about it For us? What we're doing is we're saying look, if you've got a problem or there's some issues that you're concerned with, we are trying to connect you to services and help that you need. We're not. I'm not a psychiatrist, I'm not an. You know an LMFT or you know any of the therapy. I don't have a doctorate degree. I'm just smart enough to know that, if I'm not the expert, I can get you to someone who is that can help you.
Speaker 2:And that's what the NBA is really, really for is just to help connect people.
Speaker 1:I wish I'd known about the NBA Cause I, I, I played basketball. I started it, I think, 12, playing basketball. I even played in the military and you would go in the gym and you'd see one lonely woman and I'm like that. They're like who's got next. I'm like me and they'd look at me like who is this? Oh, wow, oh, I would oh yeah, I would play.
Speaker 1:I, you know, I'd bow up with the guys I'd be like, come on, bring it. You know, and it was so much fun. It was so much fun, I mean, I just had such a. I used to travel, know, we'd have teams that would travel and and it was just, I miss that. I miss it so much, you know. And it, you know, my husband said well, you know, I, I'm still competitive even though I'm older. You don't lose that competitive edge. You still want to be competitive, you know. And so I miss I really do miss playing sports. So, mike, I want to ask you, you know, how has the NBA impacted military communities? What kind of things have you seen in addressing these things, like you know, preventing suicide prevention and PTSD? Have you had people come back to you and say, I don't know, I didn't think this was going to work, but it's working, you know, what kind of feedback do you get for this?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I can't mention any names of people, of course, but I can tell you that one of our coaches had a person that expressed you um, some concern about themselves and their mental health and, um, they weren't in our league but they were, you know, because he's who he is. Um, he reached out to help them and they, um, he knew exactly what, who to call, what to call, because he's, you know, in our league. Um, we have the impacts that we've got. We've got over a thousand, you know, military athletes or you know, veterans and active duty. We have, um, over 50 teams, you know we've got. Last year we had 31 teams in the United States. We had about 14 teams in Europe. That has significantly grown. We've got we are a 501c3.
Speaker 2:So, in all of these different military communities, what you're going to find is our coaches out there on the front lines, our coaches out there on the front lines, and so the other impact that we have is, you know, there's an economic piece.
Speaker 2:When we do an event in someone's city, you know we're we're trying to, you know, boost their economy by, you know, our athletes coming there and and and people enjoying the event and coming out and spending money, and that's an economic boost to different economies that host our events.
Speaker 2:So there's a lot of things that we do that has an impact. Our coaches, many of them, run big brother organizations. They have backpack drives. They partner with the YMCA for basketball clinics the NBA is not just about basketball. We encourage people to sign up for the PACT Act and we, you know, work with the VA on different initiatives to try and promote some of their message, because messaging is important. If people have a negative connotation about the DOD or the VA and they don't really have all of the facts, they don't know the hard work that's being done at some of these organizations. So I we have a vast impact that continues to grow in different military communities and so and my goal is to try and expound upon that and make it make it even better- it sounds like the NBA is like the nucleus here.
Speaker 1:Then you have all these spokes going out, reaching out to different parts of the community. That's how I see it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I mean when you, when you look at the organizations like Wounded Warrior Project, amazon, military, global Affairs, DirecTV, different partners that we have from all different places. So some, you know I just named a couple of VSOs but Amazon's a transition, you know, great place for you to land if you're a military. That's what stresses a lot of people out when they join the service and then they get ready to get out is what am I going to do when I leave the service? Well, amazon has a lot of jobs that can assist with that. Wounded Warrior Project can assist people with transitioning and their claims. You know, directv directly has a safe program. That's just, you know, has a safe program that's just geared on changing the stigma and getting people engaged for suicide awareness and prevention.
Speaker 2:And then you've got the pharmaceutical companies and other different entities that are just really encouraging health equity. Uh, genentech's a company that partnered with us. Uh, this year, their, their mission in health equity is just phenomenal. Um, the national council mental health. You know all of these different partners that we're now working with, right, um, they play a role. But when we have a platform like our championship game being on cbs sports network, it's absolutely imperative for us to, to get the word out on what these um partner services are, and then what they're doing and their impact and what it means to you. So that's really important to me and that's what my team's focused on, you know. That's why I don't have any hair.
Speaker 1:So I will ask you this question. The fba have a women's league yes, we do.
Speaker 2:We uh, angel angel acevito is the interim interim, uh women's military basketball association commissioner. We had a women's championship game this year. It was was at the Leah course center in Philadelphia. The women play. We have close to eight or nine women's teams that are considering playing this year. Every last one of our tournaments this year, um, we're offering to the women to have to to to. If they can get four teams to our events, there'll be a women's, a women's event that runs simultaneously with the men's event. So we're yeah, we we're not leaving anyone behind. That was my personal direction to um. My team was like we're not going to leave the ladies behind. Um, if they don't like it, then you know. Uh, we'll see. But I want a women's tournament at the finals next year. And they came through.
Speaker 1:I love that. So what's up? What are the future goals of the NBA?
Speaker 2:The future goals of the NBA. I will tell you, it's a number. It's a number. You know I've done the strategic analysis and planning and the NBA needs to raise $11.5 million a year. You know that's what we've got to generate in revenue to offset the cost for our players, put the marketing message out on national television or major networks and to truly fund this mission in suicide prevention. Everyone talks about. They support veterans and thank you for your service and all that. But when the rubber meets the road, it's going to take money to keep these guys out there playing and supporting that message, that uniting message. It's also going to take money to connect our veterans who don't play basketball to therapy and to therapeutic services that they need. So my goal is to build and grow the league to a point where we're generating between $11.5 and $12 million a year.
Speaker 1:Wow. Do the players of the NBA pay their way to these tournaments?
Speaker 2:Yes, they do.
Speaker 1:Wow. Thank you Very cool, yeah. So my last question to you, michael, is how do I get involved? How do my listeners get involved? What can we do to further your reach for the NBA?
Speaker 2:You can donate there. You can find out about teams in your basketball, in your military basketball community. You can see a map of where these things are. You can come to our events. Most of our events are open to the public and free of charge. You can like us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter or X and, just you know, become fans. You can. We'll soon, very soon, we'll have a swag, you know, and fan gear store opening up, potentially through Amazon and there's. Just just support us. You know, that's the thing, just support us. I mean, I know it's, it's hard sometimes. It's our first year, we're a new organization, but we're very organized and we have about eight people that are dedicated to making this, making this work.
Speaker 1:Well, I want to thank you for being on the sisters in service podcast and telling us listeners especially me a little bit more, being a little more specific about what the MBA is. You know why you started it. You know what your why is, because I think your why for doing anything carries you through even the hard times.
Speaker 1:So those times when you just want to go. You know cause, as an entrepreneur, there are times where I'm like, oh, I've had this, want to go. You know cause, as an entrepreneur. There are times where I'm like, oh, I've had this. And I'm like, no, let me remember my why. Yeah, it's hard being an entrepreneur, but also understanding. You know what you're doing and why.
Speaker 1:And for anyone who's listening, you know PTS, I call it PTS Cause I didn't like D and PTSD. Um, it real, y'all. It is real, and if we can prevent one suicide from a veteran, then I feel like that's a win. So, michael, thank you for being on today, for allowing me to pick your brain about it, and I would love to. I'm going to see if I can find, you know, if there's something near me that I can go to, because I would love to see this whole thing in action, because I think it's it's very cool what you're doing, and I wish I were young enough to be a part of the league, but that's okay. Um, for all of my listeners, as usual, please stay safe, take care of each other until next time and remember it's never too late to start your impossible. Thank you.