Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
ODON – For 80 years, the Frank Roberts Youth League in Odon has been a summer tradition for boys and girls playing baseball and softball.
The youth league organizers want to ensure the league and its fields will be there for another 80 years and recently kicked off a crowdfunding campaign to raise $50,000 to begin Phase 1 of a three-phase renovation project.
The campaign will close July 1. If successful, the Frank Roberts Youth League Inc. will receive a matching grant as part of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority’s CreatINg Places program.
New lighting and bleachers will go a long way toward fulfilling project goals, which include improving sustainability, playability, accessibility, safety, security and the overall experience for families and fans.
Phase 1 improvements include:
- New LED Lights and poles for fields
- More gravel for the extended west parking lot
- Infield dirt for minor field renovation
- Roof over three bleachers
- Portable mound
- Moveable base system to reconfigure fields
- Equipment to groom fields
- Programmed, timed locks on restrooms
For a town of 1,400 people, raising $50,000 is ambitious, but Roger Callahan, president of the league, is optimistic. The community has always been generous in the past with gifts and donations to maintain and upgrade the fields.
He said the project has already received donations of materials and labor.
Callahan said a successful crowdfunding campaign and potential match from IHCDA means the league will meet its goal much quicker than if it pursued traditional fundraising.
“Without this, we’d put on tournaments, use concession stand profits to raise the money,” he said. “It would take us a decade of deliberate fundraising and hard work to potentially raise this much money. This allows us to keep our programming at a reasonable cost to the community and make these improvements.”
Youth baseball/softball is not just a sport in Odon, it’s a community tradition. Nearly 400 children are participating in the 2025 recreational league.
Every year, a parade of all the teams is held on opening day and all teams play that day. When tournaments are held, Callahan said the town easily swells to two or three times its population.
Invitational tournaments hosted by the league have drawn as many as 24 teams.
“That’s 288 players and 288 families spending the day in Odon,” Callahan said. “We always get great feedback from teams, who tell us it’s their favorite place to come.”
To learn more about the Frank Roberts Youth League or to donate, visit the site.
About CreatING Places
Since the CreatINg Places program began in 2016, projects have raised more than $12.8 million in crowdgranting funds and an additional $10.7 million in matching IHCDA funds. The program is available to projects located in Indiana communities. Non-profit entities (with 501c3 or 501c4 status) and local units of government are eligible to apply. Eligible projects must have a minimum total development cost of $10,000, where the recipient will receive $5,000 in IHCDA matching funds should it successfully raise $5,000 through Patronicity. IHCDA will provide matching grant funds up to $50,000 per project.
