South Carolina football: Jay Urich unveils non-profit organization Original Design

South Carolina football player Jay Urich has teamed up with Marcus Lattimore and Connor Shaw to create a non-profit organization focused on public health, faith, and football.

Gamecock quarterback Jay Urich made local and national headlines last month during peaceful protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement with his sign and slogan that read “Matter is the Minimum.”

Now, the redshirt junior is furthering his focus on social justice and well-being by creating Original Design, a non-profit that works to give opportunities and resources to children aged 10-12 through healthy habits, faith, and football.

Urich is working alongside current Director of Football Student-Athlete Development Connor Shaw, and former Gamecock running back Marcus Lattimore to make his dreams become a reality for the newly formed organization. Lattimore, in particular, has first-hand experience in the non-profit sector as he operated the Marcus Lattimore Foundation that provided football camps to young athletes. Both Shaw and Lattimore sit on the organization’s board of directors.

Original Design’s mission is to provide the resources, opportunities, and supportive relationships necessary for children to live healthy and honorable lives. They plan to do this through fundraising, football camps, community outreach, and organizational partnerships. The non-profit’s three pillars touch on the importance of public health, which focuses on diet, exercise, and mental health, faith, which helps define identity and character, and football, which provides work ethic and accountability.

Urich will be able to sell merchandise through the organization per NCAA guidelines, so long as all moneys raised will be used to fund camps and outreach programs.

For now, the organization will have an emphasis on those in the state of South Carolina, in an effort to dive deep into the issues surrounding the public health of our youth. Urich believes that he can use his platform as a Division I football player to raise awareness of the foundation.

He’s not the only player in the Gamecock quarterback room with ties to the non-profit sector. Teammate Ryan Hilinski, and the Hilinski family, created Hilinski’s Hope following the passing of Ryan’s older brother, Tyler. It, too, focuses on the health of athletes, as they look to raise awareness on the issues of mental health.

Urich is finishing up his undergraduate studies at South Carolina and will graduate with a degree in Public Health this December. He plans to enroll in a graduate program with a focus in Educational Psychology.

For more information on Original Design’s story, mission, and merchandise, visit www.originaldesignsc.org.