Here at Sportank we regularly hold raffles and giveaways, which offer prizes for American Football fans, ranging from copies of Madden, Game Pass subscriptions and more.
As well as our own Gridiron Draws content, we are proud partners with a non-profit called Hail Mary Hits (HMH).
This group is a social society run by three passionate friends and American Football fans, with the purpose of raising money for Britball teams all across the UK while also building a positive community of fans.
Marc Holden founded the group, alongside Neill Elliot and Daniel Robinson, and they have surpassed endless milestones with their work, and have now given away about £16,000 to worthy causes in British American Football in just one year of fundraising.
Sportank host raffles for HMH in which the lucky winner gets a ‘Mystery Box’ containing a signed NFL jersey from a specific team, signed mini-helmets and more.
At the time of this article, there is a live raffle for a signed Tom Brady jersey on the Gridiron Draws page.
Here's a small collection of posts from Hail Mary Hits Raffle Winners:
Marc describes himself as ‘just an ordinary NFL fan’, and amazingly, none of the three founding members of Hail Mary Hits have ever played Britball themselves.
He loved the sport, and wanted to help out one of his local teams – the Milton Keynes Redwings, a team of the Ouse Valley Eagles club. An old friend of his was the Head Coach, and he wanted to support them, however due to his lack of practical experience he had to think outside the box:
“Although I couldn’t help with coaching, because I don’t have a real understanding of the game, I decided I wanted to help in other ways. Nick [the HC of the Redwings] explained how the funds were tight, and until I looked into sponsoring the team through my own company, I didn’t realise the equipment isn’t cheap.
“I had seen some other groups, although mainly based in America, that raffled off signed memorabilia, and I thought that might be a good way to raise funds for the team. I was already an admin in an NFL group and I asked Neill and Daniel [who were also in this group] if they wanted to get involved.”
Hail Mary Hits started up in March 2018, and by September of that year, they had built up a platform, and they hosted a huge raffle event to properly launch, giving away three signed jerseys and eight signed mini helmets.
Within less than one year of their launch event, they have already awarded £16,000 to Britball related projects, and teams, with a particular focus on youth football, and supporting opportunities for young players to play the sport.
The teams that have been supported are:
Cheshire Bears Womens – £1,000 
Gwent Gators Flag – £150 
Northants Knights Youth – £900 
MK Redwings U17 – £750 
Black Country Vipers Youth – £150 
East Kilbride Pirates U19 – £1,400 
Nottingham Caesars Youth – £120 
Somerset Wyverns Youth – £1,500 
6 players to Jags UK Camp – £1,300 
Swindon Storm Youth – £1,500 
Team GB U19 Lions – £750 
Etone Jaguars Academy – £1,000 
Inverclyde Goliaths – £1,000 
Highland Wilcats U17 & U19 – £370 
2 Solent Britballers got Cleats and Gloves – £370 
Salisbury City Marauders Youth – £1,500 
The Amelie Fund – £500 
Poole Dolphins – £1,600
They have also provided equipment for two individual Britball players, and sent six players to the Jaguars UK Academy. Hail Mary Hits also made a contribution to the Amelie Fund.
A collection of pics showing the amazing impact Hail Mary Hits funding is having on the UK game:
As well as all of the fundraising and support, the community of HMH is growing, and they are hosting a fan meet-up in September, to gather supporters of the British game who are members of their Facebook page and Facebook group.
Marc openly invites people to join their community, if you like American Football and live in the UK, there’s a community of people with a passion for growing the sport and ‘who all want to see Britball flourish. Your support will make a direct impact to teams in your region.’
They offer free giveaways as well as the raffles and their community is constantly growing.
Marc is proud and humbled by the success of Hail Mary Hits and excited by the success they have seen, particularly since partnering with our site:
“We want to convey our thanks to Steve [Price, the founder of Sportank] and the GH team for helping us right from the start. We approached people when we first launched, but it was only Sportank who supported us, and they have been instrumental in our growth.”
We at Sportank will continue to support and host Hail Mary Hits, and celebrate the amazing milestones that they have reached. They have been strong supporters of the Amelie Fund, as well as being fantastic partners to our site, working towards a brilliant cause.
