Beer League Live #41: Jim Schindley on Building Franklin Baseball Club, the Blind Draft, and Why Rec Ball Still Wins

🎧 Watch Episode 41

Watch the full conversation with Jim Schindley on the Beer League Live YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/FknXXyFxCnw

Outgoing FBC President Jim Schindley on Growing From 800 Kids to 1,300 — and the Turf Fields Coming This November

Ten years ago, Jim Schindley stood on the sideline watching a rec practice "kind of go wrong" and thought to himself: I can probably do something a little bit better than this. He raised his hand to help an assistant coach. By the time he stepped down as president of Franklin Baseball Club (FBC) after a decade in the job, the league he helped run had grown from roughly 800 kids on 15 fields to 1,300 kids packed onto every field the city can give them — plus a 200-kid waiting list. Jim joined Beer League Live to talk about the majors/minors draft (yes, there's a literal blind draft with a hat and poker chips), the difference between Little League and Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth ball, FBC's Challenger League for kids with physical and mental disabilities, and the turf fields headed to four diamonds this fall.

👋 Meet the Guest

Jim Schindley is the outgoing Vice President — and former ten-year president — of Franklin Baseball Club (FBC), one of the fastest-growing youth baseball organizations in Middle Tennessee. Originally from Ohio, Jim served in the Air Force before falling back in love with the game playing beer league softball. He got involved with FBC when his kids (now 16 and 17) were three and four years old, starting as an assistant coach before working his way up through commissioner, senior commissioner, and a decade-long run as league president — a path that started with a chance conversation with then-president Donnie Noles in the soccer aisle at Dick's Sporting Goods. Jim is now handing the reins to incoming president Reese Smith, with two seasons left to coach before his youngest ages out.

📈 The Number That Matters

1,300. That's how many kids are playing in FBC this season, up from roughly 800 when Jim took over as president a decade ago — on the same 15 fields. The 6-through-12 age groups are completely full, there's a roughly 200-kid waiting list, and Jim says FBC might squeeze in one, maybe two, more 18U teams before it's out of room entirely.

"We are sold out, packed full in every age from four all the way to 18."

🎩 Draft Day: A Fantasy Football War Room for 8-Year-Olds

FBC's answer to fantasy football is its annual majors/minors assessment and draft. Coaches evaluate every kid at a daylong tryout, then majors coaches draft first, pulling the top 10-15% onto majors rosters before everyone else lands on an age-group team. Co-host Seth — who's coached FBC teams himself and met Jim through the draft room — described the room as its own kind of chaos: color-coded scouting binders, synced-up laptops, and coaches trying to draft kids who'd already been taken two rounds earlier.

One wrinkle Jim confirmed: the "blind draft." Any kid who signed up but skipped assessment day still has to go somewhere, so their name goes into a pool — coaches literally pull a poker chip out of a hat to see who they get.

Jim's take on why it's worth the hassle for the kids who don't land on a majors roster:

"It's good for both. If a kid just misses the cut, he probably would've been the right fielder batting at the end of a stacked lineup — but now all of a sudden he's the stud, getting a lot more reps and playing positions he probably wouldn't have otherwise."

⚾ Majors, Minors, and Why the "Last Pick" Isn't a Life Sentence

Jim doesn't sugarcoat what it feels like to be the last kid drafted onto a majors team — but he's also seen minors players turn into some of the area's best pitchers because they got the reps and confidence that majors bench time never would have given them, including one pitcher who threw a no-hitter in the minors and is now, in Jim's words, "a stud."

His advice to parents whose kid didn't make majors: relax.

"The kids are young. They're really young. If they're kind of good at pitching — let's say they're nine years old and everyone's just learned how to pitch — let them learn. They can be the stud on their team."

🏟️ Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth vs. Little League — What's Actually Different

About two years ago, FBC switched from Little League to Cal Ripken (12U and under) and Babe Ruth (13 and up). The pitch: identical field size, lead-off rules, and pitching-mound distance to middle and high school ball, so kids aren't relearning the game once they get there.

"Instead of being on ESPN, we're on ESPN 2."

Since making the switch, FBC has racked up three state championships in a single season across different age groups — including a 14U team, featuring player Troy Collins, that made a run down the championship trail in Florida.

Little League, by contrast, is more tightly regulated — smaller fields, a closer mound, limits on leading off for the younger divisions, and strict residency boundaries. Nolensville Little League, the closest option to Franklin, is loaded with FBC alumni — Jim estimates 50-60% of one recent championship-run roster, nicknamed "Stella and the Fellas" after a standout girl pitcher who mowed down the Tennessee team, came up through FBC.

"We were highly 50, 60% of that team was all FBC kids."

🥎 Growing the Game for Girls

FBC has been working to grow girls' baseball, anchored by a stud pitcher in its 11-12 majors division who was invited to play with Baseball For All, a national girls' championship baseball organization. Paired with a team out of South Texas — the closest open roster spot — she helped them finish third nationally, playing squads from as far away as Brazil and Australia.

"She will be the centerpiece of that thing... telling all the girls, bringing all girls out and talking to them."

♿ The Challenger League: FBC's Proudest Program

One of FBC's biggest points of pride didn't come from a board meeting — it came from a conversation in the stands. Just as Jim was taking over the presidency, a friend told him there was a need for a Challenger League, a baseball program for kids with physical or mental disabilities, and that two far-flung leagues were the only option nearby. Jim offered fields and uniforms; she brought the kids. What started as six full teams has since spun off two additional leagues elsewhere — and FBC still runs six Challenger teams every week.

"It is such a joy. If anybody has ever had an opportunity to go out and see that... what a great thing it was."

🚧 Breaking: Turf Is Coming to Four Fields This November

Jim broke real news on the show: after negotiations led by incoming president Reese Smith with the City of Franklin, which owns and maintains the fields FBC leases, turf infields are going in on fields 5, 6, 7, and 8 — serving the 9, 10, 11, and 12-year-old age groups — starting at the end of the current season. FBC is covering part of the cost, with the rest funded by the city.

One of the two 7U/8U fields, which historically rain out earliest because the league's biggest age-group population plays there, is also getting a full turf infield sized for high-school-caliber base paths — big enough to host visiting tournament teams for practice.

"Yes. And yes, there have been some serious talks... it's set. We are going to have turf on four fields starting in November."

Looking further out, a new multi-sport city park (fields for football, lacrosse, and soccer) is finally under construction after a years-long delay caused by a bridge project. Once it opens, football and lacrosse will move off FBC's current site at Jim Warren Park, freeing up space for what Jim estimates could be two more "quads" — roughly eight additional baseball fields.

✈️ The Travel Side: SBA, the Battles, and Three 17U Teams

FBC runs its own travel program alongside rec ball, sticking with historical Franklin team names — Bombers, Generals, and Battles (formerly Cannons) — through age 12. At 13 and up, FBC partners with Showcase Baseball Academy (SBA) for a bigger social media presence and access to more competitive tournaments. FBC now fields 14 travel teams starting as young as six, including an unusual three teams at 17U this year after absorbing players from a partner program.

Jim was candid about what it costs: roughly $4,000 just to be on a 13-and-up travel team, before jerseys, three or four bats at $300-plus each, a glove per position, catcher's gear, and hotel stays for a season that runs from July tryouts through late fall, a winter break, and back again through June.

"Your vacations are where your kid's playing. So you better have a good tournament schedule."

🧢 What Makes a Good Coach (and Ump)

Ask Jim what he looks for in a volunteer coach and the list starts with one thing: can they relate to kids. Baseball knowledge matters, but plenty of former pros who show up to help can't connect with an eight-year-old, and it shows fast. FBC vets its coaches every single year, working to retain the good ones and part ways with the ones who aren't a fit.

The umpire pipeline works the same way. Jay Johnson, the athletic director at Franklin High School, runs FBC's umpires as a third-party contractor — scheduling, training, and paying kids as young as 14 who get promoted up through the ranks as they improve, some eventually working middle and high school games.

"You got to have somebody that cares, somebody that's going to put a little bit of time into it."

😤 This Episode's Rant

The mic went to co-host Seth for this one, and Jim's $4,000 travel-team price tag set him off. After paying that just to be on the team, he and other parents still forked over $85 a person to walk into one weekend tournament at Cane Ridge — and when his family tried to fill a water-mister bucket for the dugout in triple-digit heat, a concession worker refused to let him near the sink and shut the door in his face.

"We just paid four freaking grand for that team and now you got to pay more to walk in... The kids are passing out. What the hell's wrong with you?"

🔗 Resources From This Episode

• Franklin Baseball Club: franklinfbcbaseball.org

• Baseball For All (girls' baseball): baseballforall.com

• Nashville Youth Sports Hub (find a league by sport and age): beerleaguelive.com

• Previous episode: Beer League Live #40 with Chad Withrow