Our Mission:

Edgar Welden, Founder and President of the Birmingham Athletic Partnership is the brainchild behind this non-profit 501 (c) corporation founded in March 2002 and is dedicated to assisting the Birmingham city public middle and high school's athletic, cheerleading and band programs. BAP is committed to be a resource that will enhance the athletic departments' abilities to provide the necessary leadership, education, facilities and equipment to assure that students have opportunities to excel in their interest in sports and related extra-curricular activities. 

Why Our Mission is So Important...

Reduced funding for public schools has greatly affected the athletic departments and their programs. In an effort to enhance the programs, BAP will help coaches and teachers by providing resources to them that have not been available in the past. BAP believes that participation in sports and related activities will teach and instill discipline, pride, self-esteem, and the motivation to successfully complete the academic courses necessary for high school graduation, and will encourage students to continue their education.

In order to participate, a student-athlete assisted through BAP must attend class regularly and maintain a 70 average.  Sports and related activities give them motivation to do so. Therefore, BAP believes these motivational avenues are positive means to their receiving an education.

The National Federation of State High School Associations NFSHSA:
"Education and community leaders across the nation must be made aware of the facts [that] sports and music...enrich a student's high school experiences. They instill a since of pride in community, teach lifelong lessons of teamwork and self-discipline."

National Education Commission on Time and Learning:
"Teens who are unsupervised during the hours after school are far more likely to use alcohol, drugs and tobacco, engage in criminal and other high-risk behaviors, receive poor grades, and drop out of school than those children who have the opportunity to benefit from constructive activities supervised by responsible adults."

Women's Sports Foundation: Female high school athletes are:

1. 92% less likely to get involved with drugs
2. 80% less likely to get pregnant
3. 3 times more likely to graduate than non-athletes

North Carolina High School Athletic Association Study:

 

 

	Athletes	Non-athletes
Grade Point Average	2.86	1.96
Average No. of Absences (180 day school year)	6.52 days	12.57 days
Discipline Referrals	30.51%	40.29%
Dropout Rate	0.7%	8.98%
Graduation Rate	99.56%	94.66%