Atlanta, Georgia – March 17, 2025 –The RCX Sports Foundation, the non-profit arm of RCX Sports dedicated to developing, promoting, and implementing diversity and inclusion in youth sports, today announced a collaboration with ZOLL® Medical to enhance player safety. Part of ZOLL’s Anything Can Happen. Anyone Can Help.™ education campaign, the collaboration calls for ZOLL Medical to become the Official Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Partner of the RCX Sports Foundation, working to ensure that youth athletes across the country have access to life-saving emergency care when it matters most.
To launch the initiative, RCX Sports Foundation and ZOLL are donating 15 AEDs to non-profit youth sports leagues nationwide, with additional quarterly donations planned throughout the year. The AEDs will be distributed through grant applications based on need among communities nationwide. Furthermore, league operators in the RCX Sports network will have the opportunity to purchase ZOLL AEDs at exclusive RCX rates, expanding access to essential emergency preparedness tools.
“Every second counts in a cardiac emergency, and it’s critical that youth athletes, coaches, and families have access to life-saving medical devices,” said Izell Reese, CEO of RCX Sports. “Our mission is to foster safer play and provide parents with peace of mind, knowing that our league operators are prepared for the unexpected. We’re honored to work with ZOLL to advance our commitment to making advanced emergency care accessible to the communities that need it most.”
“Anything can happen, and when an AED is nearby, anyone can help,” said Lori Peters, Associate Director, Advocacy and Partnership, ZOLL. “We’re delighted to collaborate with RCX to help save lives and expand networks of citizen first responders. Sudden cardiac arrest sadly remains a prevalent cause of death in youth sports. ZOLL AEDs provide real-time coaching and feedback that can empower any bystander to help save a life in a crisis.”
As the official youth sports operator for premier leagues including the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLS, MLB, and USTA, RCX Sports oversees a vast network of leagues and youth programs, including NFL FLAG, which comprises over 2,000 individual leagues nationwide. This collaboration marks a major step in ensuring that these leagues are equipped to handle medical emergencies swiftly and effectively.
As AED access increases, it’s crucial that Americans feel empowered to act. ZOLL’s Anything Can Happen. Anyone Can Help.™ AED public advocacy and education campaign launched in fall 2024 with pro football player Damar Hamlin with a goal to spread awareness that AEDs are not just shock devices, but life-saving tools complete with audio-visual guidance and real-time feedback. For more information, training resources, and inspiring bystander success stories, visit AnyoneCanHelp.com.
About RCX Sports Foundation
The RCX Sports Foundation works to develop, promote, and implement diversity and inclusion in youth sports as the non-profit arm of RCX Sports. The foundation focuses on expanding youth sports opportunities so all children can experience athletics in a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment. No child’s circumstance in life should ever keep them from the lifelong benefit of sports. Sports for all. For more information, visit https://rcxfoundation.org/.
About ZOLL
ZOLL, an Asahi Kasei company, develops and markets medical devices and software solutions that help advance emergency care and save lives, while increasing clinical and operational efficiencies. With products for defibrillation and cardiac monitoring, circulation enhancement and CPR feedback, supersaturated oxygen therapy, data management, ventilation, therapeutic temperature management, and sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies that help clinicians, EMS and fire professionals, as well as lay rescuers, improve patient outcomes in critical cardiopulmonary conditions. For more information, visit www.zoll.com.
Copyright © 2025 RCX Sports Foundation. All rights reserved. ZOLL and Anything Can Happen. Anyone Can Help. are trademarks or registered trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Asahi Kasei is a registered trademark of Asahi Kasei Corporation.