Africa on Deck

Africa On Deck is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization set up in the United States to support Alexandra Baseball in the township of Alexandra in Johannesburg, South Africa as well as other baseball clubs in the Johannesburg area. We never dreamed we would find baseball in one of the most unlikely places on earth...the township of Alexandra. Baseball gives the players and coaches an outlet from what is otherwise a difficult life. Here is our challenge. The average household income in Alexandra is $230 a month. Half of that money goes to transportation and then the family has to pay rent, school fees and buy food. No family has extra money for their child to play baseball. Also, many of our players' families do not make close to the average. We would like to support the team in meeting the following expenses as it takes constant fundraising to keep the club afloat. 1) Transportation for the teams to the games. Not one player on the team has a car. We use mini bus taxis to get the teams to their games each week. The average cost for a mini bus taxi is $54 per week and we have four teams. To cover 15 weeks of games the total needed is $3240. This is one of the largest expenses Alexandra Basball has to deal with. 2) League fees. A team averages $115. We would like to have three teams (U12, U15 and U18) and a senior team in the winter. The cost to register the teams at part of Gauteng Baseball is around $460 each season which runs from October through April. 3) Provincial Players and South African National Players. Across all teams, Alexandra Baseball will typically have 20-25 players and coaches named to the A and B provicial sides. This is a huge home for the players but they have very little ability to pay for the uniforms, transportation and lodging expenses associated wit traveling to the National Baseball Championships. The total cost to take 20 players is around $6000. In addition, this year we are grateful that Mohamed Alaoui has been selected as a pitcher for the U18 South African National Team traveling to the World Cup in Thunder Bay, Canada in September, 2017. Also, Tsekiso Rapuleng has been chosen as a non-traveling reserve. The cost for each player is approximately $2230. As you can imagine, this is a huge expense for any family from South Africa. 4) Equipment. 100% of the equipment for Alexandra Baseball comes from donations from the US. Little leagues, high schools, travel teams and generous donors outfit approximately 75 players every year. 5) Shipping. It is simply too expensive to ship equipment to Johannesburg from the US. Currently we ask friends traveling to South Africa to take an extra bag with them on their trip and the equipment makes its way to Alexandra through people on the ground. A typical extra bag fee can range from $50-$100 per bag. 6) Coaches. Our ultimate goes is to have small monthly stipends for the coaches at every age group. Currently the coaches all volunterr their time every afternoon after school and every weekend. Our goal is pay each coach $77 per month and $115 to the Club Chairman. The coaches themselves struggle with regular jobs. Paid coaches will be the only way to ensure that the program survives long term. 7) Food. May of the players go without many things. We try on the weekends to prepare lunches or create a deal with the local tuck shop (concession stand) to both support the league and get the players and coaches a solid meal. It costs about $75 a weekend to feed every player and all of th coaches. Obviously, all of this totals more than $5000 (our goal). But, this is the reality of what it takes to keep 75-100 players involved in a positive activity that builds self esteem and teamwork. In a township, there are few opportunities to accomplish this. Alexandra Baseball truly is the best story about baseball that's not just about baseball. Thank you for you supporting Africa On Deck!

Industry

Non-profit Organization Management

Company size

2-10 employees

Headquarters

Johns Creek

Type

Nonprofit

Founded

2017