LEGACY ON THE DIAMOND

What We Leave Behind Matters.

As we close out our Faith & Fire season, this weekend is about more than crowning champions. It’s about looking back at what our baseball community accomplished together.

Throughout the season, our players, coaches, and families have used baseball as an opportunity to give, serve, encourage others, and put our faith into action. That reflects the Master Plan’s goal of creating measurable Christian ministry and community impact at every major event.

THIS MONTH’S MISSION — CELEBRATE THE IMPACT

There is nothing additional for teams to bring this month.

Instead, during Legacy on the Diamond, we’ll reveal and celebrate the collective impact made throughout the Faith & Fire season:

Families helped • Food collected • Christmas boxes packed • Players supported • Service commitments • Moms and women helped • Difference Makers recognized • Dollars returned to youth baseball

But the greatest legacy isn’t a number.

It’s teaching our players that who they become matters more than what the scoreboard says. That faith, character, generosity, kindness, and serving others can become part of how they live long after their playing days are over.

The trophies will eventually collect dust.

The impact we leave on others can last a lifetime.

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16

WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND MATTERS.
WE PLAY FOR CHRIST.

FORGED IN FAITH

Character Is Built Under Pressure

Baseball has a way of revealing character. How do we respond when we strike out? When an umpire makes a call we don’t agree with? When a teammate makes a mistake? When the game doesn’t go our way?

At Forged in Faith, we’re reminding our players that pressure doesn’t just test us — it helps shape who we become.

Throughout the weekend, coaches will select a Difference Maker from their team — not based on batting average, velocity, or statistics, but on the qualities that matter beyond the game:

Humility • Selflessness • Respect • Kindness • Leadership • Service

Each selected player will be recognized with a CBUSA Difference Maker Award.

Our goal is to develop more than great baseball players. We want to encourage young athletes to become great teammates, leaders, and young men and women of character.

“Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” — Romans 5:3–4

Character Is Built Under Pressure.
WE PLAY FOR CHRIST.

TEAM FIRST — SERVE TOGETHER

Baseball teaches us that we’re stronger when we work together. This month, we’re challenging our baseball community to take that same teamwork beyond the field.

Stop by the Feed My Starving Children table during the tournament to learn how your team can volunteer together to pack meals for children in need.

THE CHALLENGE:
Get your teammates together. Pick a volunteer date. Serve as a team.

No items to bring. No fundraising requirement. Just an opportunity for players, coaches and families to give a few hours of their time together.

“Serve one another humbly in love.” — Galatians 5:13

Victory in the Valley will support Operation Christmas Child 🎁

This tournament, we’re coming together to serve beyond the baseball field by supporting Operation Christmas Child.

CBUSA will provide shoeboxes to participating teams prior to the tournament. Coaches can bring their players and families together to pack the boxes as a team or distribute them to families to complete at home.

📦 HOW IT WORKS

• CBUSA provides the shoeboxes to coaches.

• Players and families fill their boxes with gifts for a child.

• Bring completed shoeboxes to the tournament on November 14.

• CBUSA will collect and deliver all donated boxes to Operation Christmas Child.

🏆 TEAM CHALLENGE
The team that donates the most completed shoeboxes will receive FREE TEAM BATTING GLOVES!

Let’s use baseball as an opportunity to teach our players about giving, serving others, and putting our faith into action.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.” — 1 Peter 4:10

HER STRENGTH, HIS SWING

Honoring the Women Behind the Game

Behind so many young athletes is a mom or mother figure who makes it possible — the early mornings, long drives, washed uniforms, encouragement after tough games, and countless sacrifices no one sees.

This weekend, we want to celebrate our baseball moms while helping mothers who need someone in their corner.

THIS MONTH’S MISSION — FILL HER BAG

Each team will be invited to fill a care bag with new everyday essentials for mothers and women rebuilding their lives after domestic violence or experiencing significant hardship.

CBUSA will provide teams with a list of requested items before the tournament.

But this weekend is also about our moms.

On Sunday, we’ll take a moment to recognize the moms and mother figures who pour so much into our players. Players will have an opportunity to give Mom a flower, tell her thank you, and share a special moment together on the field.

We honor the women who pour into our players — and together, we help women who need someone to pour into them.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity.” — Proverbs 31:25

HER STRENGTH. HIS SWING.
WE PLAY FOR CHRIST.

RISEN ON THE DIAMOND

More Than a Game. A Reason for Hope.

As we approach Easter, Risen on the Diamond is an opportunity to celebrate something much bigger than baseball — the hope we have through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There’s nothing for teams to collect or donate this month. Instead, our focus is simply on sharing the message of Easter with our players and families.

Before each teams 1st tournament game, we’ll have a short Faith & Fire message and prayer, reminding our athletes that wins and losses are temporary, but the hope we have in Christ is eternal.

Players will also receive a small Risen reminder to take home as a reminder of the weekend and what Easter represents.

Our goal is simple: play great baseball, bring families together, and use the game we love to share the greatest message of hope.

“He is not here; he has risen!” — Luke 24:6

PLAY IT FORWARD — Player Scholarship Month

You get to play. Help someone else play, too.

Baseball creates incredible opportunities, but the cost of registration, equipment, uniforms, tournaments, and travel can keep some players from experiencing the game.

January is CBUSA Player Scholarship Month. Through the Play It Forward Tournament, we’re helping create opportunities for players and families who may otherwise struggle to afford the game.

Every player on the field has had someone invest in them—a parent, coach, teammate, family member, or someone who simply believed in them. Play It Forward is about recognizing what we’ve been given and using it to create an opportunity for someone else.

COMPETE. CONNECT. GIVE. GLORIFY.

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” — Acts 20:35

Someone helped you get here. Someday, you can help someone else get here.

Be the Light This Christmas

For our December 12–13 Light of the World Tournament, we want every team to have an opportunity to make Christmas a little brighter for a local family in need. This continues our Faith & Fire mission of using baseball to serve others and glorify Christ.

CBUSA_Faith_and_Fire_2027_Master_Plan_Visual.pdf

Here’s how it will work:

CBUSA will partner with local organizations to identify families who could use some extra support this Christmas.

Each participating team will have the opportunity to adopt a family and receive a simple Christmas needs/wish list. Coaches can organize their players and families to purchase the items together or divide the list among families.

🎁 Bring the completed gifts to the tournament December 12–13.

Serve Others. Make a Difference.

This weekend, we’re asking every team to join us in serving our community by bringing canned and non-perishable food items to the tournament.

We believe baseball can be about more than wins and losses. It’s an opportunity to teach our players to look beyond themselves, serve others, and use what they’ve been given to make a difference.

🏆 TEAM CHALLENGE
The team that donates the most food will receive FREE TEAM BATTING GLOVES!

Let’s compete hard, give generously, and come together to serve those in need.

“Serve one another humbly in love.” — Galatians 5:13