Faces of the Fort: Caleb Kimmel

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For this month’s installment of Faces of the Fort we spoke with Caleb Kimmel, a Fort Wayne native who owns and runs the World Baseball Academy (WBA) and the ASH Centre. You may remember the longtime indoor/outdoor sports facility as Tecumwah.

The World Baseball Academy is a homegrown 501c3 nonprofit that owns and operates the ASH Centre here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Their mission is to use the game of baseball as a platform to build relationships with young people and positively mentor them to be future leaders both on and off the field.  

The WBA serves nearly 3,000 youth through baseball instructional programs, tournaments, camps/clinics, as well as international outreach trips focused on leadership development.

Caleb is also on staff with The Pointe Church here in Fort Wayne. He has the privilege of being the Next Generation Director, which focuses on helping develop our leaders within the areas of children and student ministries.   

We asked Caleb a few questions about his organization and its role in Fort Wayne.

1) You have helped establish the World Baseball Academy at the ASH Centre into an internationally recognized amateur baseball operation essentially from the ground up - tell us a little about your background on how this was started.

That can be a long story! I can summarize it by saying as a kid growing up I was like many youth in America who had a love of baseball. The majority of my time, even through college, was spent on the baseball field as a player.

However, my path to helping establish the World Baseball Academy all begin as an assistant director helping my father host local baseball tournaments here in Fort Wayne. These events served as a fundraiser for our local summer team. I gained some valuable event planning experience as a high school student serving as an assistant.

During my sophomore year at Valparaiso University, I helped transition the Hoosier Classic Baseball Tournaments into a small business and used that opportunity as my official internship.

At the time, I had no idea what those experiences were preparing me for in the future.

2) Where did the inspiration for starting the World Baseball Academy come from?

Out of college, I jumped into the entrepreneurial world. That's the advantage you have when you're young, passionate, and living at home!  You can take risks like that. My small organization became a tenant at the ASH Centre and we began growing the tournaments and starting hosting some baseball instructional camps as well.

That's when I met the man who opened the doors to the international realm. Steve Sotir, a humble administrative leader, was working within Southwest Allen County Schools. My t-shirt supplier mentioned I should talk to Steve about some of our upcoming baseball camps. Little did I know that Steve was the former Director of Player Development for the International Baseball Federation (IBAF); which simply means he was "the guy" traveling around the world and helping coaches of other nations teach the game to the players. He was the international teacher of the teachers.

That's when Fort Wayne collided with the international baseball community. It was through that relationship that the World Baseball Academy concept was created.

3) What's your vision for the future of the ASH Centre and World Baseball Academy?

Our vision is twofold:

For one, we care about kids. Our vision is to use the game of baseball to help mentor young people to be our future leaders. I truly believe our culture is in a moral decay and we really are in great need of young leaders to emerge. The World Baseball Academy clearly recognizes that baseball is a tremendous platform to build relationships with young people and use that mentoring opportunity to inspire young people to be difference makers.

Also, we care about Fort Wayne. The ASH Centre has the potential to be a first class amateur youth baseball destination for our community. We believe that substantial upgrades to the ASH Centre will positively affect our economy through sports tourism associated with our weekend tournaments and serve a wide range of area needs within baseball. Fort Wayne could become a key mid-major baseball market within amateur youth baseball and be a host site for international groups from around the world.

4) Two-parter. You've had the opportunity to travel all around the world and country to share your experiences and learn from others. (A) Why did you choose to build your organization in Fort Wayne? And (B) what is it about Fort Wayne that leads you to believe your organization can thrive here?

Wow.  Those are great questions!

I feel I have been truly blessed to have had the opportunities to see a lot of the world at such a young age. I feel even more blessed to have had so many positive mentors from this community placed in my life that have helped shape my character, actions, and leadership potential.

I have chosen to stay in Fort Wayne because I believe in this community. This is my hometown and I see so much potential in what this community is capable of, especially within amateur youth baseball.

The ingredients needed to reach the WBA's full potential are situated within relationships. I consider the WBA to be a collaborative force here in Fort Wayne as we have built successful relationships with area travel teams, Little Leagues, high schools, colleges, and the TinCaps. The WBA's vision is not just about us, but rather about the needs of this community and the opportunities to develop leaders within Fort Wayne.

If we are to thrive anywhere, it will be right here in this community!

5) Recent studies have been unveiled that highlight the importance and positive impact of a thriving youth sports community - in your own words, why is it so important for the city to support organizations like the World Baseball Academy?

I believe the future is in our youth. Whether a child is interested in art, music, or sports we need to embrace their passions and provide positive mentoring within that activity.

It just happens that many youth are drawn to sports. Therefore, if you have a strong youth sports community that is using that influence for the right reasons then you have a formula for success. You have an opportunity to truly develop your young people to be great both on and off the field.

Fort Wayne is really beginning to embrace that we are a strong youth sports town and we have some real opportunities to grow that aspect of our community.

That positive impact on the life of a young person can change a city for generations to come!

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