07/01/2008 8:15 AM -
During all T-Bones homes games, the Student Athlete Foundation of Kansas, SAF-K, is present educating fans about their not-for-profit organization that helps raise money to purchase medical equipment, like crutches and splinting supplies, for underserved high schools around the community.

You can find SAF-K at a table on the concourse located behind home plate.  SAF-K sells $1 raffle tickets during the game that go into a drawing to see who is lucky enough to sit near the team during the fifth and sixth innings and receive a signed baseball from them.  

Josh Adams, co-founder and vice president of SAF-K, athletic trainer for the T-Bones and athletic trainer for Piper High School, said that SAF-K’s main focus is to come up with funds to hire trainers in the Wyandotte county and the Leavenworth areas.  Since its inception last November, SAF-K wants to start with these locations and expand in the future.

“Working with the sponsor we have, to help schools that do not budget for athletic trainers, the T-Bones allow us to market SAF-K in order to receive better medical coverage for community high schools,” said Adams.  

Thus far, all five of the USD 500 Kansas City Kansas high schools are approved to have athletic trainers at sporting events, while Piper High School and Turner High School are in the middle of hiring full-time trainers.  SAF-K offers free injury clinic evaluations from orthopedic doctors, free x-rays to students involved in SAF-K and much more.

To learn more about SAF-K, check out their table while you’re at the T-Bones game.  Maybe you will be the next lucky fan to sit by the players during the game!

“I’ve always had a passion for what I do,” said Adams.  “It did bother me that young athletes were going without a trainer, even at football games, where there is the highest incident of injury rate, and we need to change that.”