Kansas City Royals Baseball Academy

All seven of the academy's instructors had playing experience in Major League Baseball. They were Bill Fischer, Joe Gordon, Tommy Henrich, Steve Korcheck, Jim Lemon, Johnny Neun and Chuck Stobbs. Gordon had been the major league Royals' manager in 1969, the franchise's inaugural season. Korcheck was the academy's coordinator of instruction. Among the other members of the faculty, two were from the sport of track and field – Wes Santee and onetime University of Kansas coach Bill Easton.^[1] Mickey Cobb, the academy's athletic trainer, served in a similar capacity with the parent club in Kansas City from 1977 through 1990.^[11]

The project began on September 11, 1969 when Kauffman officially announced plans to start the academy.^[12] Syd Thrift, who was already employed in the Royals' scouting department, was appointed as its director. In February 1970, Thrift asked high school coaches from around the United States to recommend boys who were both fine athletes regardless of sport and interested in attending the academy. By June and July of that same year, 7,682 young athletes between the ages of 16 and 21 attended tryout camps which were arranged in 41 states. Of the 42 who were accepted for the first class, none were scouted by any of the major league ballclubs and eight had never played the sport at the high-school level.^{[citation needed]}

Each of the athletes selected for the 10‐month course received a $5,000 scholarship and a monthly salary of $100 for the first three months, $150 for the next three and $200 for the last four. They also got transportation to Sarasota, dormitory accommodations, three diet‐planned meals a day, health and life insurance, emergency dental care and a round‐trip plane ticket home for the Christmas holiday, all at the team's expense.^[5] Attendance at the academy included an educational requirement in which each individual had to fulfill 12 credit hours at Manatee Junior College. The players took classes in the morning. Kauffman recommended that the courses taken involved business and public relations out of concern for the players' financial well-being in the future. Expenses for books and room and board was paid by the Royals.^{[citation needed]}