Friends of Baseball’s Mission is to offer Oregon’s economically and geographically challenged children enhanced opportunities for social interaction, academic success and physical and mental well-being through participation in youth baseball and softball team programs.
This week is an important week for Friends of Baseball as we prepare for round two and three of our coaches clinics in Corvallis and Eugene this weekend! We look forward to seeing new and seasoned, young and old softball/baseball coaches this weekend! They are going to be two great events — guaranteed!
But besides that, FOB came full circle this week — the genesis of our organization surfaced itself in recent months. My former high school (Portland Lutheran), where the father/son baseball relationship really blossomed for my father and I, came back to us for some help. A few years after I left, the baseball program was put on hold for several years as there just wasn’t enough funding or participation. And while many supporters did their best to resurrect it, it just wasn’t in the cards until this season.
Fortunately, Friends of Baseball has stayed in contact over the years with administrators, former coaches and teachers at PLS and promised to help when they needed us. It was our honor and pleasure to have the opportunity to partner with the other members of the PLS community to make this dream a reality. On top of their persistence and passion to make this happen, we are also proud of their ingenuity. While they understood they may not be able to realize this goal alone, PLS partnered with the Portland Waldorf high school to form an alliance and ultimately, their 2013 team. A tip of our hat to both schools and their willingness to come together for the benefit of their young athletes. This school and its unbelievable staff (some of which are still there today) did so very much for me during my high school days, and continue do to amazing things for students and athletes today.
Good luck gentlemen on a fantastic inaugural 2013 season!! –Ben & Keenan
With the amazing success we enjoyed in Portland we’re very excited to head down into the valley for two more Coaching Clinics. Here are a couple of exciting follow up announcements:
After your registration is complete, should one or more of your coaches have a conflict on one clinic day, they are welcome to attend the prior or next day’s clinic! One league registration for both Clinics; just let us know!
Pre-registration closes on March 15th. Unregistered coaches will be asked to donate $10 to Friends of Baseball at the door.
League Direct, one of our Partner Equipment Providers, will be awarding a $250 gift certificate to the league with the greatest number of attending coaches!
Friends of Baseball will be distributing a limited number of new Nike fielding gloves and cleats for coaches to distribute to underserved kids.
Remember, a single “Pre-registration” of $50 will admit All of Your League Coaches. Simply register and email us your attendees and their email addresses Prior to March 16th!
For full details and registration, simply follow these links:
Our 2013 Portland Coaches’ Clinic was our most successful yet, thanks to your dedication to teaching the love of the game to youth baseball and softball players of all levels. We were thrilled to see so many of you (nearly 300) come out to learn from Oregon’s winningest high school baseball coach, Dave Gasser. And we were pleased to bring Coach Kevin Gunderson, former OSU College World Series pitcher, thanks to Metro Baseball Academy. A special thanks also to Concordia University for providing their gymnasium for the clinic. Our follow-up Surveys suggested a 93% High Satisfaction Rating!
We are excited to be assisting three programs in this Grant Cycle:
Portland Lutheran High School is in the process of reactivating their baseball program after being dormant for a number of years. To assist themselves and another school, they are partnering with Portland Waldorf School to field a shared team for a year or two until each program can support its own team! FOB is thrilled to purchase inaugural season uniforms for their combined team!
Corvallis Boys and Girls Club has been a wonderful partner for Friends of Baseball! In fact, they’ll once again host our Corvallis Coaches’ Clinic in March. Their ongoing programs are offered at relatively no cost in order to provide as many youth as possible access to a secure place to come after school and on weekends. This grant will provide scholarships and funding for equipment in expansion of their baseball/softball programs. These lessons in team participation will assist these youth for a life time …
Just in time for this season, our adidas cleats are finding very worth homes. May all the teams who received these cleats have Magical Seasons! Thanks also to OSAA who Greatly Assisted us in this distribution! Here are just a few of the dozens of notes we have received in recent weeks:
~Mr. Longcor,
Thank you for donating the baseball cleats. We received ours via the OSAA today. Without generous donations made by your organization some families would be hard pressed to get high quality gear for their kids. The colors fit too…
Take care and thanks again for your donation. Buell Gonzales, Jr. Brookings-Harbor High School
~Dear Keenan, I just want to say thank you very much for the cleats that we were donated. My program has a lot of severe socioeconomic disadvantages, and these cleats went a long way toward helping us field a team. I cannot thank you enough for your generosity. Thank you, Jerimy Kelley, Rainier Baseball
~Dear Keenan, I wanted to extend a big heartfelt thank you from the students of Sisters High School on the donation of baseball cleats to our students in need. Many of our student’s families struggle to make ends meet, and this type of gift helps bring many of them the opportunity to participate in our co-curricular activities. Thank you so much. Respectfully, Tim Roth Sisters School District
Read More here and here, to find out the other programs in Oregon and beyond where these cleats have found a home.
Friends of Baseball is expanding its reach in 2013 with the announcement of three Youth Baseball and Softball Coaches Clinics in the New Year! With the wonderful success and turnout for this year’s clinics in Portland and Corvallis we are headed on down the road for a third clinic in 2013! Mark your calendars for securing all of your leagues coaches to attend on the following dates:
Portland Clinic January 5th 2013 Concordia, University (1:00 to 5:00pm) Corvallis Clinic March 16th 2013, Corvallis Boys and Girls Club (1:00 to 5:00pm) Eugene Clinic March 17th 2013, PK Park (1:00 to 5:00pm)
By very popular demand we have secured Coach Gasser with a brand new program and presentation for the new season.
Kevin Gunderson OSU Championship Pitcher will assist coach with his Pitching Presentation for the Portland Clinic this year!
Preregistration begins November 1, 2012 for each of these clinics. Register early for the Portland Clinic and Coaches will be receiving Free Passes to the adidas company store in Portland!
“There is no greater gift your leagues can provide our kids than for a very positive coaching experience for your players!”
For Full Details and Preregistration Please Follow the Links Below:
Portland Coaches Clinic LINK (Saturday January 5th, 2013)
Corvallis Coaches Clinic LINK (Saturday March 16th, 2013)
Eugene Coaches Clinic LINK (Sunday March 17h, 2013)
These clinics are highly subsidized by Friends of Baseball to insure full participation for all leagues! Come join this event, we guarantee a meaningful session!
NOTE! Preregistration will be only handled online, please follow links above.
At the completion of a recent Board Retreat our board voted Unanimously to Fulfill our Six Year Dream and Vision to provide support and grant funding to youth Baseball and Softball organizations Throughout Oregon, State-Wide and into Clark County, Washington! Until now our boundaries and funding did not provide for Southern and Eastern Oregon or SW Washington. This would not have been possible without a generous grant from the Nike Employee Grant Fund and Nike’s ongoing support; Thanks Nike! Please help us share this information far and wide throughout our region!
Upon review by our Board of Trustees we are thrilled to announce placement of all 11,000 Pairs of cleats Generously donated by adidas. Our priority from day one was to find organizations who demonstrated the need and logistical motivation to distribute these to youth players who likely have never owned their very own NEW pair . . .
We have designated 13 Hubs representing 15 youth organizations nationally that will distribute this amazing bounty; including 3,000 pair to remain in Oregon! Our final Thanks Go to Many, Many Individuals and Organizations for your Devotion in bringing these cleats to their new homes; thanks adidas! These cleats will be bringing a $1Million in smiles to underserved youth nationally …
For a full list of Hub Partnerships follow this Link
Our Goal in our Cleat Distribution program has been to create a “Model” for similar distribution opportunities in the future with our many manufacturing partners for baseball and all types of youth sports-related gear that needs and deserves a worthy home.
Our board has created a new Subsidiary within FOB in order to work closely with 100’s of Youth Organizations in Oregon and Nationally with whom we have developed relationships and can now assist along with our Partner Providers! We are now confident we can manage these efforts in a timely and highly effective manner. These distribution efforts will assist in providing resources and funding for our core mission at Friends of Baseball.
With this, we are honored to introduce to you this new Subsidiary: “One Ball Field”
We often hear just weeks before the season is set to begin about teams facing compelling need for that year’s program. To be honest, this limits our ability to help; it generally takes anywhere from 30 to 60 days for our board to coordinate funding and work with our Partner Providers to fulfill the many requests for assistance we receive. Now is the time to evaluate 2012 with 2013 in mind, determining where your needs and challenges will fall in the coming year. We have significant opportunities to help in many, many ways if indeed we are contacted this time of year! Take stock and begin your planning now. We are here to help with the many financial, field safety and scholarship challenges your organizations may be facing …