NON-PROFIT

WHY DONATE?

In honor of my mom, dad, sister, brother, and grandfather, Fowlkes Baseball, Inc. has been established.  Your generous donation will be used to provide support for young student-athletes, especially those lacking most in resources. 

I'm passionate about motivating today's players to enjoy the game of baseball! If you feel the same way, please donate today!

You can donate online using the button to the right or mail a donation to:

Fowlkes Baseball, Inc.
1095 Brenton Dr.
Kennesaw, GA 30144

Fowlkes Family Memorial Fund

*Click the image for complete bio

Capital Campaign


     From 1960 to 2016 a member of the Fowlkes family was a student, teacher, or coach at Decatur High School in Decatur, Georgia. In honor of our family legacy (read bios), we have established the Fowlkes Family Memorial Fund Capital Campaign.  
     Decatur has a storied athletic tradition, and supporting this community has been a source of pride with our family. The wisdom gained by our experience has taught us the importance of commitment. We feel that instilling this attitude is vital to a successful athletic program.
       The Capital Campaign will allow us to fund the building of first class athletic facilities and develop a strong community feeder program.  Historically, good baseball programs have spacious dugouts, locker rooms, storage areas, and an indoor batting cage. Additionally, we would like to add coaches’ offices, umpires dressing room, and a unique baseball history museum.
     Our vision for success will also include what our traditional family values taught us; dedication to practice & training, teamwork, pride in your uniform, appreciate the history, have fun and respect the game.

     We are proposing a unique youth baseball training program. The culture of youth sports has evolved into a complete showcase environment that glorifies the individual, rather than teaching the values of a team concept. The rising cost of equipment and travel expenses has caused local community parks to close. Every child would be able to participate in our program simply for the love of the game!
         From the beginning, the game of baseball has always been a source of community pride. The culture of youth baseball today is not only splitting up communities, but it is limiting the opportunities for underprivileged families to participate. The ability to teach important values like teamwork, mutual respect, and sportsmanship are being lost. Our family has a long tradition of helping young athletes and communities. 
     Through extensive research, not only are families frustrated with a lack of an alternative, but national youth baseball executives are willing to meet with me to help change the culture in a positive way. If a model program can be developed, it would be easy to expand to any community in the world.
         As far as I know, no one else is addressing this issue. That's what makes it unique. I have been contacted by people all over the United States that are encouraging me to move forward with this pilot program. The responses have been 100% positive.
         Since February of 2015, my family has lost our father, mother, and brother, who were all respected community leaders. Read more about their inspiring life of dedication to children and their families in their bios (above). Growing up in a baseball family has allowed me to carry on this proud tradition. We have established over the years a large network of outstanding coaches, and former players that have become great mentors. 

         The main goal is to bring back a strong since of community, including low income families. Coaches will be trained to have a better knowledge of baseball. Players will be taught good sportsmanship and respect for the game. A 5 tool player can hit, field, throw hard, run fast, and hit for power. Our unique program will also stress the importance of being a 5 tool person. They would become spiritually grounded, physically fit, educated, community oriented, and civic minded. The success of this pilot program will establish a model that will allow us to expand into other communities.
          Because of the lack of options for youth baseball players, there is a strong desire to have a program that teaches, trains, and motivates young athletes. The idea is to have parents sign up children 8 and under to play in a sandlot baseball league. No adult coaches will be involved at this age. Only a trained supervisor. When enough kids sign up, they will play a sandlot baseball game. They will choose captains, pick teams, and make all decisions without an umpire. The purpose is to teach the kids to play for fun while learning the rules of the game. I've done this for years, and kids this age always have a blast. The main goal of the 9 thru 12 age division is to train all the parents that want to be coaches and teach the players how to play the game right and respect each other. Teams will train together, play controlled scrimmages against each other, and not play games until they're ready. A controlled scrimmage means playing a live game with coaches helping the players repeat a play to get it right, or stopping the game to explain what should be done. Once the league grows to enough teams that are ready, you will have a group of teams with knowledgeable players proudly representing the community. As the league grows, a since of family will develop within the teams as they stay together for several years with their teammates and coaches. At 13 years old, the players will begin participating in a feeder program to get them ready for high school. This will help strengthen the local high school programs by providing them with a 5 tool person that may also be a 5 tool player. The players coming out of this program will be encouraged to come back and mentor the younger players!

     The Capital Campaign will help fund a proposed athletic facility and the youth baseball training program.  Your contribution will help sponsor student-athletes and strengthen the overall athletic program.
     To make a contribution to the Memorial Fund and continue the Fowlkes Family tradition, please click the DONATE button. Thank you for your generous support! 



Artist Rendering by Jimmy Fowlkes
Architectural Design by Buddy Fowlkes

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