2018 saw unprecedented growth for Paul Savramis and his nonprofit organization Rising Stars Youth Foundation. Savramis explains that just one year ago Rising Stars had a single outreach program, which was hosted at the Great South Bay YMCA. Today, Rising Stars has six boys teams and two girls teams for student athletes between fourth and eighth grade.
Q: What has contributed to such growth?
Paul Savramis: Rising Stars has enjoyed tremendous success over the last three decades. We have proven that giving children a positive outlet and somewhere they can be constructive is one of the best ways to keep them off the street and in school. Our exceptional leadership team has done an amazing job of working with local YMCAs and community centers to offer our afterschool programs and summer camps to students in need.
Paul Savramis, Art Inspired by Mothers Internationally Acclaimed Talent. Paul Savramis may be the founder of the Rising Stars Youth Foundations Basketball and Educational Platforms, but he is also the creative brains behind the non-profit marketing materials, logos and shirt designs.
In this follow up posting, Paul Savramis gets into more detail on how the addition of new RSYF directors of education, overall operations and a good right arm as his executive have given him the chance to be creative and pay homage to his late mother’s memory.
Having the luxury of some extra time and much less pressure at work day to day have allowed Savramis to revisit his early passions and do some artwork “on the side.”
Early training, and avid interest in art remain as a driving force in the life and work of Rising Stars Youth Foundation Founder and President Paul Savramis.
The demands and rigors of day to day may have changed somewhat for Rising Stars Youth Foundation Founder Paul Savramis but they certainly have not lessened.
We caught up with Paul at a recent Rising Stars event and the topic he wanted to discuss surprised us. Savramis was talking about creating new shirts, brochures, and website designs and how art, marketing, and design continue to play a big part of his daily life. “I can’t slow down, nor do I ever want to”, Savramis shared. “Purpose is everything! The day is totally different for me when it starts with a challenge or the prospect of a new project.”
Savramis continued, “Having Danny (RSYF Executive Director) taking on the mundane day-to-day foundation work is a godsend! Dan is amazing in the way he has put together an infrastructure staff that takes care of every aspect of the foundation. We now have directors of basketball operations for boys and girls, educational specialists, and a full complement of departmental expertise that allows me to do what I love best- At my pace and my time frame.”
That love is to continue to serve as RSYF ambassador and President but to also now look at outreach and new program development. That effort alone has more than tripled new RSYF initiatives over the past two years and created a valuable pipeline for Rising Stars core and fundamental purpose- To Promote Education. Continue reading →
Paul Savramis: Rising Stars Youth Foundation Participates in Jr. NBA
Rising Stars founder and President Paul Savramis is excited to announce that his organization was honored with an invitation to participate in the 2018 Jr. NBA tournament. Rising Stars’ 14U Elite travel team, in collaboration with Rising Stars 6th Boro Hoops, entered and won the Jr. NBA Regional tournament in July, cementing an entry as representatives of the North East in the Jr. NBA national tournament.
According to Paul Savramis, there were sixteen teams invited to attend in total with eight representing the US and eight international teams.
The Jr. NBA national championship tournament was held in Orlando, Florida.
The 2018 Jr. NBA Championship was a year in the making and the first of its kind. It brought together the very best in the game from around the world. For the inaugural event, the championship was sponsored by Gatorade Under Armour, Kaiser Permanente and of course the NBA.
The event, held at the Disney Sports Arena had more of a feel like an international festival than a tournament. The NBA housed the team, gave out uniforms and had top players from the league in attendance like Steph Curry and LeBron James giving free clinics and advice.
A real treat was having every game treated as an NBA one, televised on Fox 5 and the NBA network. Games were announced by former and current NBA stars. Everything about the experience was filled with the excitement of an NBA ALL STARS weekend.
Paul Savramis says the inclusion of Rising Stars in this event was made even more special by the partnership with 6th Boro Hoops. 6th Boro was organized by former Savramis pupil and Rising Stars alumni Nihad Muscovic. Muscovic, who Paul Savramis says is much like his former students Jay Williams and Dan Gimpel started 6th Boro Hoops just after high school with the support of his former coaches from the Rising Stars Youth Foundation. Like Williams and Gimpel his goal was to ultimately return and work with Rising Stars.
The team from Rising Stars played well but was ultimately defeated by the team that won the final game. The return trip home was not filled with tears, however, as the group was able to use this experience of play to learn and grow, and that is what Paul Savramis and the Rising Stars Youth Foundation hopes is the outcome of each game, each event, and each school day.
About the Jr. NBA
Paul Savramis explains that the Jr. NBA is the official grassroots youth basketball program of the NBA. It is, remarkably, a free program open to all basketball leagues that cater to kids ages six through 14. The JR. NBA is sponsored by Under Armor, which provides funding for each team’s welcome kit. In addition, the parent company NBA IS 100% behind it.
Jr. NBA members have access to grants and funding (upon application approval) not available to non-member teams.
Paul Savramis, founder of Rising Stars Youth Foundation, recently hosted the non-profit’s 2018 Meet and Greet for Rising Stars student athletes at Adelphi University. Savramis explained what this annual event entails and how Rising Stars scholarships have a lasting impact on the students, their families, and the community.
Q: What is the purpose of the Meet and Greet event?
Paul Savramis: The Meet and Greet is a yearly event that introduces the Rising Stars Scholarship recipients to the members of the board. It is a chance for these students and their families to meet the men and women behind the scenes of Rising Stars and for our benefactors to meet firsthand the lives they have touched through their generosity.
On a cold January night in New York, more than a dozen girls came together in a cell phone-free zone to talk about something important: each other. Paul Savramis, Rising Stars Youth Foundation founder, shares info on the Beautiful Me workshop in the following brief Q&A.
Q: What is Beautiful Me?
Paul Savramis: Beautiful Me is a self-esteem workshop we put on regularly for the girls in our youth programs. Essentially, it is a night that allows our girls’ teams to interact with each other and learn to appreciate their teammates’ positive qualities beyond the free throw.
In early 2018, Rising Stars made an important change to its website and overall future outlook.. Here, Rising Stars Founder and President Paul Savramis explains the launch of Rising Stars Youth Foundation.com. and the organizations “new” look.
Q: What does the addition of the term “Youth Foundation” mean for Rising Stars?
Paul Savramis: Our title as Rising Stars Inc. never truly defined the scope of our work nor was it a clear presentation of what we were. There were not many Rising Stars in 1996 and we were the only ones associated with youth sports and education. As the years past many others began using the name in one form or another and it began to really get confusing.
We actually developed a site “About Rising Stars Inc.” that helped to separate and better describe our identity and the two working models ..athletics and academics that were at the core of Rising Stars..
2018 saw unprecedented growth for Paul Savramis and his nonprofit organization Rising Stars Youth Foundation. Savramis explains that just one year ago Rising Stars had a single outreach program, which was hosted at the Great South Bay YMCA. Today, Rising Stars has six boys teams and two girls teams for student athletes between fourth and eighth grade.
Paul Savramis, Art Inspired by Mothers Internationally Acclaimed Talent. 
Early training, and avid interest in art remain as a driving force in the life and work of Rising Stars Youth Foundation Founder and President 
On a cold January night in New York, more than a dozen girls came together in a cell phone-free zone to talk about something important: each other. 