About Team SAGE
Scholar Athletes Globally Emerging, Inc. is a Sacramento nonprofit that uses athletics as a catalyst for academics, leadership, and lifelong opportunity.
Where it started
Team SAGE (Scholar Athletes Globally Emerging) began in Sacramento in 2009 with a simple conviction: the discipline, teamwork, and drive a young athlete pours into a game can carry them just as far in the classroom and in life.
Working with young men from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds, Team SAGE pairs organized basketball with tutoring, mentoring, and life-skills training. The shield in our logo stands for strength and protection. The basketball stands for discipline, health, and a rewarding path to a college diploma.
What began as a local program has grown through partnerships, dedicated coaches, and the families who trust us with their sons, all working toward one finish line that keeps extending: college graduation and a life of purpose.
Mission & vision
Sound mind, sound body
To create an educational experience built on the principles of a sound mind and a sound body, pairing academic and social accountability with organized sports.
Prepared, accountable leaders
To build a generation of prepared, accountable student-athletes who graduate from four-year, accredited universities and become pillars of their communities, reaching back to lift others up.
The SAGE Doctrine
Four principles our scholars live by, on the court and off.
Sound mind, sound body
Academics and athletics are developed together, never one at the expense of the other.
Accountability
Scholars are held to clear academic and behavioral standards, in the classroom and in the game.
Growth beyond the game
Basketball is the doorway. The goal is a four-year degree and a life of purpose.
Emerge and reach back
Scholars become leaders and mentors who lift up the next group coming behind them.
Milestones along the way
Team SAGE is founded
Launched in Sacramento to pair organized basketball with academic and social accountability for young men.
Partnership with the Salvation Army
Through Target: Excellence, Team SAGE provided tutoring, SAT and college-readiness prep, and recruiting support to more than 380 students in the Oak Park neighborhood.
Workshops across Sacramento
Sessions held at venues including the State Capitol and the California Museum, led by judges, athletes, doctors, and other professionals from diverse disciplines.
Project Time Out at SMUD MOSAC
Student-athletes gathered at the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity to connect classroom learning to real life.
Expanding the philosophy
Growing programs and partnerships with the goal of advancing the Team SAGE philosophy in communities across the country.
Leadership
The coaches and staff who make Team SAGE run.
Wornel Simpson
DeJada Simpson
Sheryl Walton
Kellen Simpson
Byron Williams
Michael Mullins
Alton Byrd
Charles Kidd
Be part of the next chapter
Whether you give, volunteer, or partner with us, you help turn a Sacramento student-athlete into a college graduate.