Sal Fasano Community
Sal is proud to promote his favoirte charity www.UPI.org and has traveled the world making a difference in children's lives.
The History of UPI Unlimited Potential Inc.
(UPI) was organized and incorporated December 22, 1980, as prescribed by the Indiana Not-For-Profit Corporation Act of 1971. This corporation grew out of a vision of Tom Roy, the founder and director of UPI to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the vehicle of baseball. The purpose of UPI, as stated in its Articles of Incorporation, is "to glorify God through the spreading of His GOOD NEWS, the GOSPEL, to youth as well as adults. The major emphasis of this ministry will be the administration of evangelistic baseball clinics both in USA cities and overseas. Ballplayers and coaches will share their testimonies and an invitation will be given for those in attendance to trust Jesus Christ as their personal Savior."
North America Tim Cash - Director The "tool" UPI uses toward this end is a free evangelistic baseball clinic. In the USA, these clinics are held in major league cities, primarily on Saturday mornings, during the summer months when the local pro team is scheduled at home. Several Christian players from both the home team and the visiting team are the instructors for the clinic. After instruction in baseball fundamentals, a few of the players share a brief testimony with those in attendance. One or more local churches in these cities who feel the need for an evangelistic thrust such as this in their community organize the clinic with UPI providing the administrative framework. The local church provides the facility, pulicity, financing and, most importantly, prayer support. The church also does follow-up work with those who have indicated that they trusted Christ as their personal Savior during the clinic.
UPI assists with the organization of the necessary committees as well as providing the professional athletes for the clinic. During the summer of 1981, the first clinic was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, working through Faith Bible Church as the local church. Christian ballplayers from both the Oakland A's and the Milwaukee Brewers shared their testimonies with those present. Because of the baseball strike that summer, ministry possibilities were limited, but in 1982, UPI returned to Milwaukee for a second citywide baseball clinics outreach. A total of ten major leaguers came, including seven from the Brewers and three from the visiting Detroit Tigers, and nearly 1100 kids and adults attended. Approximately 125 children and adults recognized their need to trust Christ through the testimonies of these ballplayers.
The next clinic in 1982 was in Akron, Okio, in conjunction with the Chapel in University Park. Players from the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees came, and the Lord truly blessed the clinic. Even though it rained, nearly 1800 gathered inside with many coming to know the Lord. The final clinic of 1982 was held at the Springdale Community Center in a suburb of Cincinnati. Here the Grace Brethren Church of Cincinnati was the host church. Again, through the witness of committed Christians like Dave Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies, God blessed the outreach of the clinic.
Since those first years, the clinic ministry in the USA has grown. Churches in many cities, like Milwaukee, have begun hosting clinics on their own, with UPI turning the leadership over to the local churches. This gives the UPI staff opportunity to develop clinic ministries in new cities. Each summer there are evangelistic baseball clinics in Major League cities with a few cities each year taking over the leadership on their own. UPI has always encouraged local church ownership in the clinic outreaches. Tim Cash is the director and resides in Atlanta. International The vision for UPI extended to the world in 1982.
The first UPI international team consisted of Executive Director Tom Roy, and three volunteers, faith coaches, Jake Boss from Michigan, Dr. Andy Hill from Illinois, and Al Strong, Michigan. Tom Roy had taken his college baseball team to Puerto Rico the previous year and had seen the tremendous interest that country had for the game. In conjunction with Joe Cora and the local church, the first team travelled there and held baseball clinics. The Division has now expanded to reaching over 30 countries including Russia, Dominican Republic, China and Australia. The main format is much like the United States in that baseball clinics are conducted with evangelistic messages at the conclusion.
UPI tries to work through Bible-believing mission organizations in each country in which it participates. Some countries are closed to the Gospel message. In those, we try to work through government or local baseball authorities. Discipleship From its conception, UPI had understood the need for follow-up for every decision made at a clinic. The main responsibility of this lies with the local church or missionary agency. As the ministry grew, there came a realization of a need to keep these groups accountable and, thus, as a result, in 1992 a full-time Director of Discipleship was added to the staff. A second area of discipleship included that of training and encouraging the professional player. A friend of the ministry and a professional manager in the Milwaukee Brewer organization, Chris Bando, came on board on a part-time basis in 1989. His responsibilities were to disciple ball players and their families in Arizona during the off-season.
Additional individuals have been identified and their ministry utilized since those early beginnings. In 1992, UPI developed a follow-up ministry called "Triple Play" for use by the churches. Military Ministry The Mission: To assist commanders and chaplains in providing religious support to military service members and their families by sharing the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ through the medium of baseball as presented by professional baseball players. Since 1997 Unlimited Potential, Inc. has had the unique privilege of ministry by bringing their talents and experiences in the Major Leagues to the military. There are amazing parallels in the lives of the service member and the Major Leaguer. They encounter some of the same challenges, like team work, values, and striving for excellence.
The History of UPI Unlimited Potential Inc.
(UPI) was organized and incorporated December 22, 1980, as prescribed by the Indiana Not-For-Profit Corporation Act of 1971. This corporation grew out of a vision of Tom Roy, the founder and director of UPI to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the vehicle of baseball. The purpose of UPI, as stated in its Articles of Incorporation, is "to glorify God through the spreading of His GOOD NEWS, the GOSPEL, to youth as well as adults. The major emphasis of this ministry will be the administration of evangelistic baseball clinics both in USA cities and overseas. Ballplayers and coaches will share their testimonies and an invitation will be given for those in attendance to trust Jesus Christ as their personal Savior."
North America Tim Cash - Director The "tool" UPI uses toward this end is a free evangelistic baseball clinic. In the USA, these clinics are held in major league cities, primarily on Saturday mornings, during the summer months when the local pro team is scheduled at home. Several Christian players from both the home team and the visiting team are the instructors for the clinic. After instruction in baseball fundamentals, a few of the players share a brief testimony with those in attendance. One or more local churches in these cities who feel the need for an evangelistic thrust such as this in their community organize the clinic with UPI providing the administrative framework. The local church provides the facility, pulicity, financing and, most importantly, prayer support. The church also does follow-up work with those who have indicated that they trusted Christ as their personal Savior during the clinic.
UPI assists with the organization of the necessary committees as well as providing the professional athletes for the clinic. During the summer of 1981, the first clinic was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, working through Faith Bible Church as the local church. Christian ballplayers from both the Oakland A's and the Milwaukee Brewers shared their testimonies with those present. Because of the baseball strike that summer, ministry possibilities were limited, but in 1982, UPI returned to Milwaukee for a second citywide baseball clinics outreach. A total of ten major leaguers came, including seven from the Brewers and three from the visiting Detroit Tigers, and nearly 1100 kids and adults attended. Approximately 125 children and adults recognized their need to trust Christ through the testimonies of these ballplayers.
The next clinic in 1982 was in Akron, Okio, in conjunction with the Chapel in University Park. Players from the Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees came, and the Lord truly blessed the clinic. Even though it rained, nearly 1800 gathered inside with many coming to know the Lord. The final clinic of 1982 was held at the Springdale Community Center in a suburb of Cincinnati. Here the Grace Brethren Church of Cincinnati was the host church. Again, through the witness of committed Christians like Dave Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies, God blessed the outreach of the clinic.
Since those first years, the clinic ministry in the USA has grown. Churches in many cities, like Milwaukee, have begun hosting clinics on their own, with UPI turning the leadership over to the local churches. This gives the UPI staff opportunity to develop clinic ministries in new cities. Each summer there are evangelistic baseball clinics in Major League cities with a few cities each year taking over the leadership on their own. UPI has always encouraged local church ownership in the clinic outreaches. Tim Cash is the director and resides in Atlanta. International The vision for UPI extended to the world in 1982.
The first UPI international team consisted of Executive Director Tom Roy, and three volunteers, faith coaches, Jake Boss from Michigan, Dr. Andy Hill from Illinois, and Al Strong, Michigan. Tom Roy had taken his college baseball team to Puerto Rico the previous year and had seen the tremendous interest that country had for the game. In conjunction with Joe Cora and the local church, the first team travelled there and held baseball clinics. The Division has now expanded to reaching over 30 countries including Russia, Dominican Republic, China and Australia. The main format is much like the United States in that baseball clinics are conducted with evangelistic messages at the conclusion.
UPI tries to work through Bible-believing mission organizations in each country in which it participates. Some countries are closed to the Gospel message. In those, we try to work through government or local baseball authorities. Discipleship From its conception, UPI had understood the need for follow-up for every decision made at a clinic. The main responsibility of this lies with the local church or missionary agency. As the ministry grew, there came a realization of a need to keep these groups accountable and, thus, as a result, in 1992 a full-time Director of Discipleship was added to the staff. A second area of discipleship included that of training and encouraging the professional player. A friend of the ministry and a professional manager in the Milwaukee Brewer organization, Chris Bando, came on board on a part-time basis in 1989. His responsibilities were to disciple ball players and their families in Arizona during the off-season.
Additional individuals have been identified and their ministry utilized since those early beginnings. In 1992, UPI developed a follow-up ministry called "Triple Play" for use by the churches. Military Ministry The Mission: To assist commanders and chaplains in providing religious support to military service members and their families by sharing the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ through the medium of baseball as presented by professional baseball players. Since 1997 Unlimited Potential, Inc. has had the unique privilege of ministry by bringing their talents and experiences in the Major Leagues to the military. There are amazing parallels in the lives of the service member and the Major Leaguer. They encounter some of the same challenges, like team work, values, and striving for excellence.
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