Welcome to My Rally Campaign

• My name is Michael Crane and I am the CEO and Director of Operations for 31 North Baseball and fair warning my dreams for my kids are HUGE but our heart and work ethic is even BIGGER
• We have bought into the idea that baseball is a sport that changes the lives of those that play the game well beyond the baseball diamond. It bridges the gaps that so many times we cant do otherwise

Why I'm Raising Funds

• Because we are going to change the world! That's right, through our hometown of Birmingham, AL we are going to change the world we live in by simply playing the game of baseball and here is why WE need YOUR help! Once we become adults many of times because of limited opportunities as children our place in this world seems to be limited. What if, as youth, we were given the same chance regardless of economic or racial background? As a country we have fought for years to even the playing field in the job market but doing nothing about making the preparation equal prior to entering the work force. Our concept here at 31 North is to use the game of baseball to get our kids into college with scholarships where they can earn a degree. Now that idea is nothing new but travel baseball is expensive to say the least and so we are back at square one where only the privledged truly get the opportunities. Thats where 31 North decided to flip the script and say that we will not turn a kid away because of money. If he is willing to work hard and put in the time then he will play the game of baseball at the very highest level. Our first 2 years we backed this through ourn personal finances from the leadership down to some of the families. The word spread and in 24 short months we had almost 400 kids playing for us and now our need is greater than what we have available but we will find a way. From day 1 we have been the group that always finds a way, never gives up, and always gets the job done. So with humble hearts I come to you on behalf of my players, my boys, my sons as I tend to typically call each and every one of them to join our 31 North Family by giving what you can, whether it be a little or a lot, so we can show you what a little opportunity can do in changing the world. We have every kids from the inner city to the rural backwoods and everything in between playing for us and you would be amazed at how a little dirt on the face makes us all look the same and causes us to only judge a man by whats on the inside. We say that all the time but human nature prevents that many of times so you need something to take away the colors and untie them in a cause and what better cause than to go to battle every single day side by side. We really are a family here at 31 North and we are going to change the world around us for better and theres nothing more valuable than the thought of hope for our youth!

How I Got Here

• Many people are going to laugh at the goals we have set but if you knew my personal story I can promise this is more realistic today than the liklihood of me being iin this position to begin with. Born and raised in the most non diverse setting you could find in school but through sports and amazing parents had the opportunity to see things in a much different way. I have lived a life that most would envy and I have also thrown that life away to almost every temptation life has to offer. People watched as I went from the guy who had it all to the guy who literally didnt have a single penny to my name with no home and no car. Desperate and broken with the last bit of hope quickly fading something happened that can only be described as divine intervention and a spark of hope. Day by day things changed. At first the path was sometimes beyond what I thought I could handle but still I went forward and it was through the game of baseball my life took such an unexpected turn and went from a game I quit playing at 15 to becoming MY PURPOSE. It was baseball that my son who had not spoken to me in over a year called to say "Hey Michael, will you come see me play baseball?" It was at dinner a year later that my son for the first time said dad saying " Hey DAD, lets just start our own team!" In case you are wondering I was just a little bit torn up inside both times. So here we are 3 years after the life changing lets just start our own team statement as one of the fastest growing programs in the country. We arent just a large group but we are the underdogs you dont want to play because we dont care about what the stats say about who should win because we overcome and we get it done. My boys are like me, they have decided to not care what people say it should be and we are writing a new script where we decide the outcome

My Team

• Yeah this isnt my team, its OUR team and we want YOU to be a part of it! You have the Dallas Cowboys as Americas team in football but WE want to be Americas basbeall team!! Not for fame or fortune but rather to show what a little bit of hope combined with a whole lot of opportunity can do towards changing the world around us! You see if you change your own world for the better it has no choice but to start changing the world of those around you a little bit as well. Hate is a disease that spreads like wildfire but we can make the choice to change that. So in the end you arent donating money to some random baseball program, you are donating money in hopes to change everything for the better, you are donating to hope, and you are donating to youth and what better cause in this world is there than that?

Join My Team and Spread the Word!

• So join myself, Ricky Bowen, Mario White, our 60+ coaches, our 400 players, 800 parents, and countless grandparents and lets make a difference. Hope goes a long way and every dollar goes towards that very thing. Come see us play and you will feel it and see it.