Backyard Games of America - Providing scholarships and support for at risk youth

BYGA PO Box 1836 • Henderson, KY 42419 (270) 316-5536 • Email

  • Backyard Games of America is a 501(c)(3) public charity with a worthy mission. This page will provide an overview of the spirit of the activities of Backyard Games of America.

Backyard Games of America’s purpose is to assist and encourage youth through mentoring, training, and financial support to help them become successful adults and contributing members of society.

The Backyard Games Board of Directors
Lawrence Butler, President
Diane Butler, Secretary
Dorothy Black, Treasurer

Regional Board Members:
Ferro Butler - Indiana
Andrew Mansholt - Illinois

Click here to fill out an application/survey online to become a member of the board or one of our committees.
Click here to download the application/survey as a PDF file.

About Backyard Games of America

BYGA was formed by Lawrence Butler to help provide at risk youth with financial and moral support to gain a solid education and build the necessary foundation of or success in life.

"We are a youth-centered agency that endeavors to guide and support youth through high school and beyond with mentoring and scholarship funds. Backyard Games of America can help kids gain the knowledge to succeed at the game they choose to play. Our goal is to take that high school kid who is getting by with average to below average grades and teach them the skills they need to succeed in school and in the game of life.

Once a kid has been chosen to get into this program, we will give them the support, mentoring, and scholarship funds they need to improve, from that average student to a great student having the skills to succeed in the Backyard Game of Life.

To fund our youth programs, Backyard Games of America will showcases basketball talent from all over the country through a series of tournaments culminating in the Tony Delk Classics.  From time to time, we will also provide supporters the opportunity to win valuable merchandise through a series of raffles.

We have all played the game and reached out for help. In many cases there was someone there to help us. There are kids out there who really want to succeed and they are reaching out for help, but no one is there to help.  Like some of us in this world, they have not been given anything that they have not earned. We simply want to help these kids earn their future and succeed in the Backyard Game of Life. " --Errol Butler, Indianapolis

About Lawrence Butler, Founder of BYGA

Lawrence grew up knowing his mother had relinquished custody of him when he was only 6 months old. He did not meet his father until the age of 20. Having experienced first hand what can happen to a rudderless child growing up without parental guidance or love, he vowed to do whatever he could to assist kids in similar circumstances when he became an adult. He hopes that sharing his personal frustrations and altercations and ultimate reconciliation with his mother will help the youth in BYGA programs to avoid similar pitfalls.

Backyard Games of America is a tribute to Lawrence's approach to life. He is never satisfied with the status quo or simply doing a good job. He is driven to win and always swings to hit for home. That is how he plays the game and how he hopes to teach the youth of BYGA to play.