Gaming the System

How a father, a son, and a car full of cards are reshaping what generosity looks like in the TCG world.

It’s not odd—it’s God.

That’s how Scott Fisse describes the timing of a weekend journey that began in Greensburg, Indiana

and stretched nine hours east to Northern Virginia. He and his son Jacob—“I’m about 10,” Jacob says—made the 18-hour round trip not for a tournament, not for a trade show, but for something far more personal: to pick up sealed boxes of trading cards that would help build a student-led afterschool program for at-risk teens in their hometown.

Scott’s story doesn’t start with cards. It starts with a calling.

Years ago, he left his job at ADT to pursue a shared dream with his wife—a dream to love and serve through foster care.

Their first two placements, Jacob and Emmy, are now their adopted children. And their home is a living testament to compassion, generosity, and the belief that healing happens in community.

That belief is what led Scott—now a paraprofessional math tutor at Greensburg Community High School—to sponsor a new afterschool club for students in the Individualized Education Program (IEP). These are kids who often fall through the cracks. Who don’t get the spotlight. Who need something good to do after school.

Scott found that “something good” in the Bo Jackson Battle Arena (BoBA) card game.

Just a month ago, he saw the Ken Griffey Jr. promo for the next BoBA expansion. Childhood heroes like Bo and Ken Griffey lit a spark. He bought the Ken Griffey Bundle, unlocking access to the upcoming TechmoBowl cards—and received two advance packs from the IMC team. Inside one was a Tim Hardaway “on-card” autographed Debut Hero. That moment sealed it. Scott was in.

He began combining his new passion for BoBA with his long-standing mission to serve. With six freshmen and sophomores already in the club, Scott reached out to ShootStrayt after a live-stream “Givey Train” (where he pulled a “Joey Jawz Grandma’s Linoleum!” from BDUB-HUB). He asked if we had any bulk cards to help build the Greensburg Card Club.

We did. Because months earlier, during a Caster’s Society memorial fundraiser, Chris Sheridan had shipped us three pallets of sealed TCG product. They were waiting for a community that could use them.

Hello Greensburg. Hello Scott Fisse.

Scott and Jacob loaded their car with boxes from those pallets—cards from Hobby Club, but that were delivered because of the generocity first shown by the Imagination Mining Company (IMC), AKA Blokpax/HTH. On the way here, they stopped at Hillbilly Hotdog (built from old yellow school buses), and plan to visit Monticello on the way back. But the real journey is what they’re bringing home: a mission, a message, and a movement.

Jacob, thriving in the love of his family, told us a story before they left. He was walking in the woods and found a log. He rolled it over and saw a small stick. “Oh my,” he said, “the log had a kid.”

That’s the kind of wonder this community inspires.

ShootStrayt is proud to be part of a system that can be gamed—for good. A system built by generous partners like those bringing us amazing TCGs at Imagination Mining Company (BoBA/WoTF/etc.). A system that doesn’t just entertain—it uplifts. That doesn’t just play—it heals.

Scott hopes to expand the club to the junior high. He dreams of bringing these kids to the National Card Convention in Chicago, just 3½ hours away. After an 18-hour trip, that feels like a breeze.

This is what it looks like when generosity becomes infrastructure. When play becomes purpose. When gaming the system means building something better.