Dan Willard has an incredible task before him. He has been charged with building a booster club for the Ottawa University Baseball team from the ground up. “As far as we understand, this is a first for Ottawa University,” said Willard. “They’ve never had a booster club for baseball before.”
Fortunately, Willard is not a rookie in the booster club scene, having been involved in such clubs while his son, Austin, played baseball at Olathe North High School. Austin is in his first year at OU and is an outfielder for the Braves. However, booster club experience notwithstanding, Willard says getting approval from the University was a whole new ballgame. “We had to go through and define what we are going to try to accomplish and have it approved by several levels at the University to make sure that what we are going to do would not interfere with the normal college operations,” said Willard.
Willard credits Ottawa University Baseball Coach Joe Reed for helping the booster club in the start up process. Prior to joining the Braves, Reed spent four seasons as the general manager of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes National Baseball Ministry. That experience has certainly been helpful in establishing the booster club as Reed was responsible for numerous aspects of the program, including game day and events promotion. “He understands what needs to be done,” said Willard. Reed is in his second year at OU and in 2009, he directed four All-KCAC performers including the KCAC Pitcher of the Year, Eric Cordell.
Willard believes strongly that the Braves Baseball team needs a booster club at this time because while it has facilities, those facilities need to be upgraded and with universities having tight budgets, additional funding sources must be found. One of the items on the down-the-road wish list is permanent bleachers. For now, Willard says funding for field improvements and uniforms is what his booster club will focus on. “The coach is fairly new and we can help support him to get the program going in an upward direction and help the baseball team as a whole gain a better feeling about themselves,” said Willard.
In addition to Willard serving as president, the Ottawa University Baseball Booster Club Board includes a vice president, a secretary, a treasurer, and five at-large members. One of the at-large members is Eric Wade, who also resides in Olathe. Additionally, 10 volunteers have signed up. Willard says things are just in the planning stages at this point, but the group hopes to put together both fundraising and community events. “We want fellow students and the community to know the baseball team and be involved with it,” said Willard. “The booster club is just trying to do what we can to help build camaraderie on the team.”
If you would like to find out more information about the Ottawa University Baseball Booster Club, please contact Dan Willard at 913-707-9874 or via e-mail, dan_willard@att.net.