The Missouri Bulldogs Baseball Club along with KC Rays Youth Baseball, LLC, are founding members of the Kansas City Cooperative Association of Competitive Baseball and Softball Teams… we call it the KC CO-OP.  The CO-OP provides its member teams and their players with affordable access to technical training in both group and individual settings.  The ultimate goal of every CO-OP player is to advance as far as their ability and desire will allow them in the sport of their choice.

Why form a cooperative association of teams?

Most competitive teams either have a relationship with a private individual who has indoor/outdoor space to donate or rent at low rates, or they pay commercial rental rates for indoor space at sports academies and then scramble to find outdoor practice space.  Our plan is to have a group of competitive teams come together “cooperatively”.

The establishing agreement binding the cooperative association of teams together will be very similar in nature to a farmer’s cooperative association.  Each team will become a member of the association and contribute collectively.  This contribution will establish the team’s equity position in the association.  As long as the team continues to be a member of the association, operate its team, bear its respective share of the operating costs, then it will have a proportionate share of user rights in both indoor as well as outdoor practice facilities and will accumulate equity in the cooperative association.  When any member team chooses to sell its interest back to the cooperative association, the association will then be able to sell the available membership to another team.

The Missouri Bulldogs will field baseball teams in the following age groups for 2011: 9u, 10u, 11u, 12u, 16u and 18u, plus the Lee’s Summit West American Legion Bulldogs.  The Jager Field White Sox will compete in the 14u age group as a KC CO-OP member.

The KC Rays Baseball Club will field teams in the following age groups for 2011:  12u, 13u and 14u.

The KC CO-OP will also include softball teams in the following age groups for 2011: 10u, 12u and 14u.

By the 2012 season, the KC CO-OP will have 2 teams in each age division for both baseball and softball… providing affordable training and competitive playing options for 20 teams.

•  Game Schedule – league plus tournaments, fall & spring/summer ball (40 – 70 games)

•  League(s) – our teams will play in leagues to be determined

•  Practice Fields – our cooperative association of teams is submitting a proposal to manage an existing multiple field complex close to the US71 / MO150 area. We plan to construct a 90’ x 150’ training facility in the complex where we would hold practices as soon as we get approval from the city in which this complex is located. When we control the fields, we may conduct tournaments and organize competitive leagues.

•  Indoor Training – the plan for our indoor facility is to be operational by Dec 1st, 2011. In case of delays, we have a fallback strategy in a private facility just 10 minutes south of MO150 and Holmes off 215th and State Line Road.

Our Cooperative Association of Teams will combine our resources to create a learning environment to develop skilled baseball and softball players. Each team in the Co-op will be provided with an equal share of training time on the outside fields and in the indoor training facility and will be provided with an opportunity to sponsor a tournament as a fundraiser.

Our training philosophy is to teach the game and develop skills necessary to compete at the highest level.  It is important that all players have infield skills regardless of where they play, so all players will learn a couple of infield positions in addition to outfield and battery spots. Most baseball players will learn how to pitch.  We will look for coaches in addition to players when the teams are formed. Terry Harris will be the Director of Player Development for all teams and will manage the overall training activities for the teams. Age based training sessions will be conducted during the winter months. We are looking to form a solid core of players that can mature over time and eventually feed into our oldest level of kids which include:

Robert L. Clore Post 189 American Legion Bulldogs (currently competing for the National Championship of American Legion Baseball)

Missouri Bulldogs College Showcase

Summer Showcase Tournaments and Fall College Campus Tour

Midwest Canes College Softball Showcase

Summer Showcase Tournaments and Fall College Campus Tour

Interested sponsors, donors, players and/or coaches should contact:

Terry Harris, 816-797-0561, MissouriBulldogs, Harrishouse729@sbcglobal.net,

Chris Seagraves, 816-564-3878, KCRays, Chris@BoanHeating-Cooling.com