Hi Everyone-
Just as a quick introduction, I'm one of the countless players this site has helped over the years. The info and advice I got from people on this site was so important as I made my way through high school and eventually reached my goal of playing D1 ball.
I had to stop playing after a few knee surgeries during my senior year but I've tried to stay close to the game.
Currently, I'm working with a few friends on a side-project aimed at getting quality equipment into the hands of players, teams, and leagues in low income communities. Obviously, I don't need to tell all of you about the financial burden of competitive baseball (there was a post earlier today about it here).
Anyways, my main goal with this is to work with college programs to get them to either donate or sell old bats, balls, tees, and gloves which we will in turn donate or sell at low prices to these teams and players.
In my college program, there was always a ton of equipment that simply sat around or was thrown out at the end of each season. Most of this stuff probably had years of use left and there are tons of players at lower levels that I'm sure would've been happy to receive it.
We're in the initial stages of research and planning and we're basically looking for some feedback from coaches, players, and parents. We're also in the process of contacting college and high school programs directly to gauge their appetite for such a program.
How do you deal with purchasing the necessary equipment on a tight budget?
How would college programs respond to something like this? (Legal w/ NCAA compliance and/or equipment suppliers?)
Would you/your son/your team be willing to purchase and play with slightly used equipment if it meant saving $$?
Pretty much any feedback or viewpoint you offer up will help immensely. We're not really worried about making money out of this. Really just feel that it's important to continue growing the game and the players like so many others out there are doing.
Thanks so much, this site is such a great resource for everyone involved in the game!
Brett
TeaMo Sports
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