League of Angels Connects Special Needs Athletes to the Joy of Baseball

In the summer of 2023, Tanner Kim found himself at a crossroads. After spending two years playing outfield at the University of Kentucky, the 2021 Farragut High School graduate had decided to transfer to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and step away from baseball. Having moved back to his hometown, he was attending City Hills Church with his family when, he says, “I felt a calling.”

Over the next several months, Kim, now a junior majoring in management at UT’s Haslam College of Business, followed that calling to become the founder and CEO of League of Angels, a nonprofit foundation that uses baseball to promote inclusivity and empowerment for young people with mental and physical disabilities.

A Change in Perspective

The seed for the foundation was planted in Kim’s mind while at UK, when he and some teammates volunteered at an event with Miracle League, an organization that makes baseball accessible for young athletes with disabilities. The experience made him see the game in a different light, he says. “I’d been playing SEC baseball for a year at that point, stressing about high pressure, cameras, agents — all of that. The [Miracle League] kids were just having a blast. There were no winners and losers. Everybody got to hit, and it was always a home run. It was such a perspective change for me.”

However, it wasn’t until that 2023 summer day at City Hills that Kim envisioned sharing his new perspective with others. “The pastor was talking about how sometimes you put down a gift that God’s given you, and then it might be time to pick it back up and use it for something else,” he recalls. “That was soon after I decided to step away from baseball, so it really hit home for me. I felt like God put it in my heart to start this foundation.”

The idea took him by surprise. No one in his family had started a business, and he had no personal connection to any kids with disabilities. With only a belief in the mission and his parents’ encouragement, he met with a contact in the Knoxville sports community who connected him with the Koinonia Foundation of Tennessee, a Knoxville nonprofit that serves individuals with disabilities. “At that point,” Kim says, “[League of Angels] was strictly an idea, but [Koinonia] wanted to partner for an event. Once the ball got rolling with that first contact, everything started moving in the right direction.”

Capturing the Joy of Baseball

While acclimating to life at UT in fall 2023, Kim was also busy networking, setting up the foundation and planning the first League of Angels event. Josh Dalton, a Haslam economics lecturer, pointed Kim toward the university’s Legal Clinic, which provided crucial paperwork assistance. Koinonia, along with Knoxville Challenger Sports, an organization that offers recreational opportunities for children and adults with special needs, recruited participants and volunteers. Kim’s local baseball connections helped him secure a field. Donors provided funding and other resources.

At the inaugural League of Angels “demo day” in late fall, around 15 participants and more than 30 volunteers gathered to throw, catch and hit balls and run the bases. An interaction at the end of that day reassured Kim that he and the foundation were on the right track. “I asked one of the kids what his favorite part was, and he said, ‘I got to be a baseball player for a day.’ That really hit home for me because I’ve been playing baseball since I was three. We want to capture that joy for as many kids and families as possible.”

Working to Fulfill a Vision

Young man wearing glasses, backward baseball cap and League of Angels T-shirt, holding a light-up sword in one hand and pointing with the other. Balloons in background.

League of Angels gives players the chance to star in pro-style hype videos.

In 2024, Kim hopes to hold League of Angels events at least once a month, regardless of weather. With that in mind, the group’s second event took place indoors on February 24 at Diamond Baseball-Simcox Academy, a professional-quality training facility in Knoxville. Kim says the location “matches our mission to make the kids feel invited to a modern and fun environment. There might be no other circumstance for them to be in such a place, where high-level high school, college and even MLB players come to train.”

As interest grows, League of Angels may expand to include all ages and adopt a more organized structure with multiple teams, but for now, its focus is on “high school age and up,” with all participants wearing matching shirts. Kim’s vision is for players to experience the excitement of a high-level sporting event, complete with light effects, a fog machine, walk-up music and more.

“We have our vision of what we want it to look like, and there’s a lot of work to do, but there’s also a lot of fun to be had,” he says. “We want to make these kids feel super important, because they are.”

Photo of League of Angels staff, L-R: Evan McKinnon, Tommy Kim, Kailyn Scott, Tanner Kim, Grant Rice, Brock Hodges

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Haslam College of Business - League of Angels Connects Special Needs Athletes to the Joy of Baseball