Bloomington Athletic Association

The Bloomington Athletic Association was organized in 1953 by Arnie Johnson after once again cutting youth from a baseball team. He resolved to find a way that would give ALL kids the opportunity to participate in organized sports. In 1954, Arnie presented a plan for the formation of an athletic program based on the tenet that if youth boys wanted to play a sport, he should play, without regard to ability and at an affordable cost. In the early 1960s, through the efforts of Betty Lokken, girls' sports were added. The outcome of these efforts was the formation of the Bloomington Athletic Association (BAA). BAA is an all volunteer sports organization. Over the past 50 years, BAA has grown to provide opportunities for over 5,800 participants annually in 10 different sports programs. The program is exclusively run by volunteers and operates with a $375,000 budget. It has been reported that BAA is the largest volunteer youth sports organization in the Country. Through the years, BAA's philosophy has remained the same for over 4 decades: offer youth organized sports programs to participate in without tryouts, without regard to ability and at a cost affordable to all. If the fees are an issue, BAA offers scholarships to provide equal opportunity to play for all youth.