Kel Mitchell, Renee Montgomery boost Atlanta youth sports in new Nick show

Several struggling sports youth groups in metro Atlanta recently received field makeovers courtesy of new feel-good Nickelodeon show “Play It Forward” starring Atlanta Dream part-owner Renee Montgomery and Nickelodeon vet Kel Mitchell.

Each of the six episodes features a different sport such as wheelchair basketball, volleyball and lacrosse. The show, which shot from August through October, debuted Wednesday and will air weekly.

Montgomery, who was in the WNBA for 11 years including her final two seasons with the Dream, is the host. Mitchell, of “Good Burger” and “All That” fame, plays comic relief. Dubbed the “agent of chaos,” he disguises himself and misleads the kids over why their fields are temporarily inaccessible.

“Shout out to the makeup and wardrobe team,” Mitchell said in a Zoom interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “I put on beards, mustaches. I change my teeth and my voice. It’s super fun.”

Renee Montgomery dismantles an aging bleacher at Sporting Club Stockbridge Soccer Academy, which was renovated for a new Nickelodeon show “Play It Forward.“ (Nickelodeon)

In the debut episode, “Play It Forward” rejuvenates the worn-out soccer field used by Sporting Club Stockbridge Soccer Academy.

“If we don’t get this fixed, we will have to forfeit our home games,” coach Damian Thompson said on the show.

“So many of these coaches use their money and rely strictly on donations and hand-me-downs,” Montgomery said. “Every team has its own unique needs and wants. It was different every episode.”

In the new show “Play It Forward,” Kel Mitchell pretends to be a Stockbridge city employee who has to shut down the kids’ soccer field over “toxic dirt.” (Nickelodeon)

In improv mode, Mitchell pretends to be a city employee who breaks the fake news to the academy soccer players that their field has toxic dirt and a possible sinkhole.

“Kel’s not just funny while filming but hilarious between takes,” Montgomery said. “I’m a ’90s kid who watched ‘Kenan & Kel’ and ‘All That.’ He was everything you would imagine him to be.”

The show ultimately gave the soccer academy new sod, balls, nets, uniforms and bleachers. They also received a fancy line painting machine.

“Having the correct gear and having a proper field is essential to improve their skills,” Thompson said on the show. “My program is saved.”

The Dick’s Sports Matters Foundation helped fund the makeovers, Montgomery said.

“It’s a beautiful thing to go in there and help these kids with their futures and watch them smile,” Mitchell said.

This Nick show should not be confused with a Chick-fil-A production that coincidentally uses the same name. Each episode of the fast food operation’s program, which came out in September and can be viewed on Chick-fil-A Play app and YouTube, follows a family that takes part in a series of challenges, then surprises an unsung hero in their life with their winnings.