Today we’d like to introduce you to Victor Murillo
Hi Victor, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am going to start off a 5 years after high school After the tragedies of 9/11, I decided to do what I could for my country at the age of 23. So I enlisted in the United States Marine Corp Reserves. During my time with the Marines, I began to purse working with Law Enforcement. I was not sure if that meant local police, state or government. Just knew I wanted to help make a difference on our streets.
I began to work for a Private Investigation company, where within time I was in charge of training thousands of law enforcement personal all over the country from FBI, Secret Service, HSI, other federal and local agencies on specific crimes. Conducting undercover investigations, being a part of multiple warrants and arrest and constant traveling all over the country, real began to take a toll on me and my newly formed family.
As my oldest of 2 started elementary school and sports at the local park and recreation, I knew the purpose God had presented to me. As I got more involved in my kids elementary school and began to volunteer as a coach for his teams at the park, I noticed somethings were missing. I noticed that kids in elementary schools really didn’t have much “Team Sports” activities or education. The had free play recess and lunch. They have 15-25 minutes of their teachers playing kickball or dodgeball with a large red rubber ball. Playing jumprope, running laps or just playing tag ro get some exercise. All great activities to keep kids active and engaged with other students, All activities I grew up with and loved for sure.
I then started to understand the issues with our school and many others is lack of funding and resources. Especially for sports, music and art. I noticed as I was coaching my sons teams after school at the park, lots of kids picking up sports equipment for the first time, never having tried team sports, or just wanting to be part of a team. Now I know not all families may have a passion for sports like I do. Or grew up with it like I did playing till bedtime. However I do feel kids should be exposed to sports at least once, then you just never know.
In 2014 I took a break from private investigation and with the support from my family and the inspiration from my kids, i started a non profit organization Athletes in the making (AIM). What we do is visit elementary schools and teach the fundamentals of team sports. We conduct hour long sessions to each classroom. We bring our coaching staff and sports equipment for baseball, soccer, basketball, hockey and football. We also sponsor kids or teams that would love to join a team after school at their local park and rec. Everything we do is free of charge to all public schools. We do not want kids to miss out on playing sports due to lack of funding at their schools.
I aways wanted to be a teacher. Specifically a P.E teacher. However due to unforeseen circumstances, I followed the path of military and law enforcement. Since middle schools and high schools have P.E and team sports, I decided to create my own class for elementary schools by starting a non profit. My parents raised me to always giveback. Sports, kids, and giving back are my passions. Putting it all together just made sense. To this day, I remember the after school coach I had in elementary and how he would always organize all the games for us, played in the games and was just a good person from a good family. He is now a principle for a middle school. not surprised.
Hope this explains how and why I started AIM.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A non profit organization must constantly apply for grants, fundraise and “just ask” for monetary donations. Well, being one of thousands applying for same grant, it’s easy to get overlooked when you’re a “mom and Pop” organization like we are. I personally am not the best at just asking for donations. People always ask why I started a non profit if I’m not willing to ask people. It’s difficult when the economy is tough for so many. It is something I’ve been working on. We have fundraising events, but again I know some people are dealing with their own financial hardship.
Like the rest of the world, the start of the pandemic had us having to reboot, We lost our donated office, our grant writer and coaches. The rebuild has been a challenge. We know there’s lots of money out there for organizations that support kids sports. Especially since we have the World Cup and the olympics coming. It’s having the right grants filled out and in some cases knowing the right people is big.
I like to say we’re a small mom and pop, but we do a lot of big things. We may not always get financial support, but we do get in kind donations that we give to our kids, like sports equipment, clothes, uniforms or even toys during our Holiday season.
One of the most gratifying things we do is give kids experiences. Like play basketball, soccer or baseball on a professional venue that’s to our local teams. They have given us meet and greet opportunities, tickets to watch with VIP access. We have had shopping sprees during the holidays thanks to companies donations. These once and a lifetime events make the difficulties of fundraising for money all worth it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Since the birth of my kids in 2008 and 2010, and the the start of my non profit organization, I have continued to work in the private investigation and private security industry. The difference now is that I’ve cut the time I work significantly since wanting to be more involved with my family and the non profit.
There’s no way I can answer what Im known for. If you ask my kids, I hope my legacy will be that I was always there for them and involved. I recently was asked to be their high school basketball coach. After long consideration and discussions with my family, I accepted.
I can’t speak for other people, but I think people know me more for AIM and for giving back. Which are things I’m very proud of. I credit it all to my faith and my parents for instilling that in me. Ive also been blessed to have been surrounded by so many likeminded people that just want to give back. I always say I’m just the middle man. Some people may not have the time to do what were trying to do with AIM, or know where to give. But they trust in us and our mission to allow us to do on their behalf.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.athletesinthemaking.org
- Instagram: @athletesinthemaking
