Why We Are

Organized team baseball has supported development of leadership and life skills in youth across the country for decades. However, today's organized youth baseball programming has a high price point and limited access that causes a significant barrier to entry. This friction point has led to a substantial negative impact on kids in underserved areas and ultimately keeps many kids from participating in the game of baseball. Leveraging the power of social capital and committed partners will dramatically increase the participation of underserved youth in baseball (balanced emphasis on baseball skills, academics, life and leadership skills). Success is realized when access and affordability to the baseball playing field is leveled and players progress through life on trajectories representing their true and full potential.

Founder Morris Madden

For years, Morris noticed a concerning lack of growth among young African-American players in baseball. Not nearly enough kids under the age of eighteen had the awareness or access to the game of baseball and knew that he had to help. Shortly after his MLB playing career, he decided it was time to take an active role in being part of the solution. So, only three years after throwing his last professional pitch, he was running a program with 15 kids and three coaches. Morris - or Coach Madden, as the players, coaches and volunteers usually call him - began with a very clear vision for his program: a family environment from day one, youth participants with positive, coachable mindsets and coaches who really know the game.

“His compassion for the kids and their growth and learning is what powers CMR.”

— CMR Parent on Coach Madden

Impact Opportunities

These days, with respect to team sports, the average Black or Latino kid is aware of football and basketball as options -- however, not nearly enough consider the game of baseball. The numbers of active Black and Latino baseball players, at all levels, used to be higher but have decreased dramatically over the past couple of decades. Similarly, a lot of the parents of these children, while they may be more aware of baseball as a sport, do not have any knowledge of the many benefits that participation in the game of baseball can offer their children. This is especially true when the kids have access to a higher level of instruction.
The rising costs of equipment and travel make baseball participation a non-starter for a lot of families residing in lower income neighborhoods. In order for the children to participate, low-to-no cost subsidies and transportation support are necessary. Additionally, the benefits of baseball and related life skills and educational support is challenged by limited access to equipment, fields and coaches who have played the game at a high level.
There are not many organizations which offer the ability for kids to remain with the program -- the same coaches, friends and other 'extended' family members -- for the total duration of their childhood. This continuity is so valuable because it establishes a consistent presence of support throughout the kids' most formative years and creates a lasting bond which will carry on into adulthood.
Most team participation options (church, little league, YMCA, park rec, travel teams) cater to a particular skill level. An organization with the ability to serve beginner, intermediate and advanced players, at their respective levels, maximizes its impact in the communities it serves.