PROGRAM 15, the Official Global Grassroots Player Identification and Development Program for New Balance Baseball has launched the Future Stars Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable and philanthropic arm of the organization, in an effort to strengthen their ongoing commitment to provide amateur players across all economic levels an opportunity to reach their full potential through the training, development, and guidance of former MLB players, scouts, and coaches.
100% of Future Stars Foundation donations will provide opportunities for underserved amateur players meeting academic and athletic criteria to attend select Future Stars Series Skills, Training & Evaluation events at no cost.
Led by PROGRAM 15’s National Staff of former Major League and professional players, scouts, and coaches, Future Stars Series Training and Evaluation events have garnered a reputation as the most comprehensive amateur baseball player identification and development experiences available.
Troubled by the amount of raw amateur baseball talent that had gone unnoticed, in part due to the financial obstacles facing players and their families, was one of the core reasons Jeremy Booth, PROGRAM 15 Founder, CEO and President of Baseball Operations for The New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series created this initiative.
About the launch of the Future Stars Foundation Booth said, “This has been in the works for three years, and is finally a reality. Thanks to the efforts of PROGRAM 15 Staff and contributions from anonymous benefactors, we are going to be able to help a lot of great amateur athletes get the development and exposure opportunities that they would not have had otherwise.”
Booth recognizes the staggering odds for an amateur player to reach the Major Leagues, but the organization’s commitment is to provide every player in the program with the opportunity to grow and reach a level of achievement matching their highest potential. While that may not be enough to secure an MLB contract, it can translate into playing baseball at the high school level as well as the opportunity to earn scholarships from Junior College to Division 1 University Baseball programs, something that has been out of reach for many of these young men until now.
Future Stars Foundation will begin accepting tax-deductible individual and corporate donations by the end of December.
ABOUT FUTURE STARS FOUNDATION:
Future Stars Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization led by PROGRAM 15 to provide opportunities for underserved amateur baseball players to reach their full potential through the training, development, and guidance of former MLB players, scouts, and coaches. For more information on PROGRAM 15 and the Future Stars Foundation, visit FutureStarsSeries.com or @program15bb and @ftrstarsseries on Twitter.
