NEWS PROVIDED BY
HEARTFIRE Missions, Inc.
July 20, 2026
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., July 20, 2026 /Standard Newswire/ — HEARTFIRE Missions, Inc (“HEARTFIRE”) announced that HEARTFIRE Elite, the basketball team competing under its name, will return this year in The Basketball Tournament (TBT) to defend its championship crown in the winner-takes-all, Fox Sports broadcast event which draws millions of viewers each summer. The announcement comes alongside news of HEARTFIRE expanding into the field of sports missions, launching their inaugural basketball trip to Egypt in November 2026.
HEARTFIRE’s participation in the TBT began six years ago, when hall-of-fame coach Homer Drew asked HEARTFIRE founder Jeff Dyer to name his team after the ministry. Drew wanted his players to compete with heart and intensity, while also spotlighting HEARTFIRE’s ministry to a national audience. While the team lost in the first round of its debut season, it went on to win the tournament championship in 2023, and remains a strong contenders in this year’s tournament bracket.
Although HEARTFIRE Elite is independent of the HEARTFIRE ministry, the team remains closely connected to the organization. Jeff’s brother Mark is one of the team’s general managers, the coaches are committed to spreading the mission, and the players are passionate about the meaning behind the team – with some of the players spending time at HEARTFIRE headquarters. HEARTFIRE Elite provides a high-visibility platform on which to share the critical mission with an international basketball audience.
Building on the TBT opportunity, HEARTFIRE is leading an inaugural basketball-themed mission trip to Egypt this fall in affiliation with Sports Ambassadors, an international sports-based outreach ministry. Volunteers will have the opportunity to participate in basketball clinics and outreach alongside the medical and humanitarian teams. HEARTFIRE anticipates the addition of sports ministry to its current lineup will create new and unprecedented opportunities to bring Hope to a desperate world.
About HEARTFIRE Missions
HEARTFIRE Missions is an Arizona-based 501(c)3 nonprofit that leads short-term international medical and humanitarian mission trips. The organization trains future healthcare and non-healthcare leaders to serve in unfamiliar surroundings. HEARTFIRE aims to transform lives — in both the impoverished communities where they serve and in the lives of the volunteers themselves — through what the organization calls “reverse missions.” More information is available at heartfiremissions.org.
Media contact: Alexandra De Rosa alexandrad@heartfiremissions.org
Spokesperson: Jeff Dyer jeffd@heartfiremissions.org
SOURCE HEARTFIRE Missions, Inc.