USA Football's Heart of a Giant Award presented by HSS and the NY Giants
The 6th Annual Awards
- Best Engagement for Good
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) physicians have served as the team physicians for the New York Giants for over 40 years, caring for the team through 4 championship seasons. As the Official Hospital for the New York Giants, HSS leverages their sponsorship of the team and partnership with USA Football to create an annual grassroots and charitable initiative, the Heart of a Giant Award. The USA Football Heart of a Giant Award presented by HSS and the New York Giants reaches over 500 high schools in the Tri-State area and recognizes tackle and flag football athletes, student managers or mascots who demonstrate that extra something special, while providing their programs with much-needed equipment grants.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
While healthcare is an active sports sponsorship category, HSS is at the forefront of the industry as it leverages its partnership with the New York Giants to actively engage sports fans with its organizational mission through charitable giving, interactive experiences, and meaningful content. Through the Heart of a Giant Award, HSS is going above and beyond traditional standards of sports sponsorship of simply advertising by creating an immersive activation that directly impacts the local community, while also helping support youth athletes in their sports journey. Over the years, the program has transformed and adjusted the parameters to better fit the needs of the greater football community; not just active athletes. By celebrating managers, mascots and flag football players, the Heart of a Giant Award has created a platform for females as well as those with special needs; physical and mental. Through this program, HSS is setting the industry example for how brands can leverage their partnerships to actively engage with all fans by listening to their stories, recognizing their accomplishments, and helping those overcome adversity. Although this is a local grassroots program, it has garnered media attention from across the country, illustrating that real impact comes from true fan engagement.
Objective
As the leader in musculoskeletal health, HSS is ranked as the #1 hospital for Orthopedics both nationally and globally by US News & World Report and Newsweek respectively. HSS is one of the largest, most active, innovative, and most highly respected institutions in sports medicine. With HSS’s mission to empower people to “move better,” the hospital leveraged their existing partnerships with the New York Giants and USA Football to create a strategic charitable initiative that would have an immense impact in the local community. USA Football’s Heart of a Giant Award presented by HSS and the New York Giants recognizes high school students who demonstrate unparalleled work ethic, illustrate the ability to overcome adversity and showcase a passion for football. Ultimately, the Heart of a Giant Award was developed to bring HSS’ core values to life by encouraging high school students to participate in their football team, regardless of their ability level, and showcase an undeniable commitment to their community. By awarding students with unforgettable experiences and equipment grants for their school’s program, the Heart of a Giant Award recognizes the incredible achievements of students both on and off the field.
Strategy & Execution
The Heart of a Giant Award was created to build interactive programming centered on HSS’ core principles of charitable give back to the local community and developing authentic relationships with sports fans. To successfully execute this program, we engaged with over 500 high school football coaches and encouraged them to nominate well deserving members of their team; including players, mascots and managers. Once nominated, those students and their incredible stories are featured on a Heart of a Giant microsite where the local community and Giants fans can vote for a student to become a finalist. Following the public vote, 11 finalists were selected and received a $1,000 equipment grant for his/her high school’s football program. The grand-prize winner’s school earned an additional $9,000 and an all-inclusive trip to the Super Bowl. Understanding that today’s sports fans may have different abilities and may not be athletes, the program has evolved into a full inclusive community initiative that considers managers, mascots and players. Through meaningful storytelling, the Heart of a Giant Award uncovers some of the best untold human-interest stories about local students, while giving high school football programs much-needed equipment grants.
Organizations
- Hospital for Special Surgery New York Giants USA Football Excel Sports Management
Links
Credits
Emil Calcano
Vice President, Chief Sports Marketing & International Patient Development Officer
Hospital for Special Surgery
Robbie Tran
Senior Director, Global Sports Marketing & Business Development
Hospital for Special Surgery
Dylan Wasserman
Manager, Global Sports Marketing & Business Development
Hospital for Special Surgery
Dr. Samuel Taylor
Orthopedic Surgeon
Hospital for Special Surgery
Stephanie Arpaia
Vice President, Brand Marketing
Excel Sports Management
Kelsey Bigley
Director, Brand Marketing
Excel Sports Management
Zach Hrubic
Director, Communications
Excel Sports Management
William Schneiderhan
Senior Coordinator, Communications
Excel Sports Management
Courtney Whiting
Coordinator, Brand Marketing
Excel Sports Management
Austin Ryback
Manager, Brand Marketing
Excel Sports Management
Malcolm Montilus
Manager, Brand Marketing
Excel Sports Management
Ethan Medley
Director of Community Relations and Youth Football
New York Giants
Julia Lavelle Murphy
Director, Partnerships
New York Giants
Daniel Jones
Quarterback
New York Giants
Lebany Dalton
Senior Coordinator, Football Operations
USA Football
Joe Banach
Director, Corporate & Strategic Partnerships
USA Football
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
