Second Chance Fields

Thank you Josh for your vision for these fields! Without you and your ability to rally the "troops," gather the supplies and lead the way, our kids would still be playing sports on dangerous ground. Thank you to all who volunteered and gave generously to make this vision a reality. Under Josh's excellent leadership you are the "boots on the ground" that carry out the mission. Words cannot express how much this means to us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I Have been involved in a great number of volunteer projects and non-profit organizations over the years and have given countless hours of service. Second Chance fields rates at the the top not only for the kind of work that they do and the benefits which filter down to our leaders of the future, but also for the way in which the organization operates. Josh Pratchard demonstrates a high level of competence and has put together an organization that runs seamlessly from top to bottom. Keep up the great work that you do!

Josh is a visionary. He sees a need, a sports field in desperate condition, and he focuses his energy on bringing the right elements and people together to accomplish that project. Josh is optimistic. A sports field might have gopher holes, large ruts, hard clay soil, and green sod netting mixed in the hard ground throughout the field, and it could look hopeless, but Josh sees possibilities, and he spreads his vision an encouragement to others and gets them excited about what WILL happen.

Once Josh has a project he is relentless working with volunteers, equipment companies, and possible in-kind donations. Josh's intelligence and charisma work for him when negotiating help for the project. He is kind and understanding towards his volunteers. His knowledge about replacing a sports field is remarkable, and his command over a project is impressive. I have worked with Josh on several projects and have found first hand what kind of work ethics Josh employs and have seen his visionary and leadership skills in operation.

Josh does not just "talk a good talk," he follows through on every promise. He is a man of his word. Second Chance Fields is hope for the future of all high school sports. There is no question that Second Chance Fields is an outstanding non-profit that under Josh's leadership should keep rising to be the most effective non-profit in all of San Diego County.

I work at an inner city school in San Diego and our softball field has needed attention for quite some time. Second Chance Fields is currently working with us to upgrade our dugouts, install a warning track, upgrade fencing, along with a few other upgrades. Josh has taken this project on as his own. He has coordinated with our district (not an easy task), worked and met with donors to answer all questions, is coordinating all in-kind donations and volunteers, and is working non-stop to secure more donors on his end. Our school would never have taken on a project of this magnitude and been able to get it completed with out the assistance of Second Chance Fields. We thank them wholeheartedly for their help and support.

I have two children who are very involved in sports. My son plays Lacrosse on a team that uses the field at Del Norte High School. Prior to Second Chance Fields replacing the lower sports field, the fields were dangerous, very dangerous, extremely dangerous. My son's cleats would get caught on the mesh almost every practice. One of his friends was injured pretty badly due to the mesh, holes and uneven ground. I thought about pulling my son out of his most loved sport to protect him from a potential injury or even move him to another team, but he refused since all of his friends play on his team and pulling him out completely when his goal is to get a college scholarship to play Lacrosse seemed counterproductive. I was irritated and frustrated that a newer school, especially in an expensive area would have such horrible fields, and in all honesty, the school didn't seem to care.

I am thankful that Second Chance Fields stepped in. I am not sure why they chose Del Norte out of all of the schools that need their help, but I am glad that they did. Now I can rest easy knowing that my son won't be getting injured from the field. My son has told me many times how much he loves the new field - amazing job Second Chance Fields and thank you once again!

I am so impressed at how Second Chance Fields is able to make these dead fields come back to life again! And he is doing it the right way. Josh is very knowledgeable and experienced. I've followed him every step of the way at one of the project, and all I can say is "wow!" . It's good to know that someone out there is making a difference in the schools.

Second Chance Fields is a top notch non-profit. They do great work in the community and are making our sports fields safer for kids every day. With schools spending less and less on sports and the arts, Second Chance Fields is bridging the gap.

I had the opportunity to work with josh and his second chance family preparing a field to have sod layer for the El Norte school. The field was in bad shape and it was amazing what was accomplished by the team of volunteers which included friends family and some good hearted Marines. After a long day of grating the field and pulling out plastic mesh by hand which could potentially get caught up in the cleats of kids playing sports on the field. Most of the group parted around sunset. Josh stayed late ensuring that everything was level and no potentially dangerous items were left on the field so there would be no hang ups for the following day. That passion to ensuring a job worth doing is worth doing right made me proud to be apart of the team that day.

Second Chance Fields is a great nonprofit with an awesome cause. I really enjoy volunteering for them, their events are always fun and I love supporting sports. Highly recommend supporting Second Chance Fields!

Second Chance Fields is an amazing nonprofit that does great work for high school sports by providing public high schools in low income areas with safe, updated, and modern sports fields so the student athletes can play their sports free from injury. However, that's not what this review is about... I want to highlight it's founder, Josh Pratchard. This young man has, for the last four years, worked his tail off to build this nonprofit from the ground up and he does it for free! Many people volunteer, they put in an hour or two for one weekend a year and pat themselves on the back. Josh works 365 days a year, sometimes 12 hours a day for nothing! He finds the projects, fundraises the entire amount by himself, finds and recruits the volunteers and convinces local businesses and construction companies to come out with their equipment and tools to pull these huge projects off and he does it all with a smile on his face and a passion I have not seen matched in all my years working in the nonprofit sector. He does all this and never asks for anything in return, never complains about anything and always gives 110%. If you are looking for an organization with a GREAT cause to support or donate to, you would be hard pressed to find a better organization, pushing a better cause and run by a man with more conviction, integrity and passion that is making a HUGE impact in three lives of hundreds of San Diego's student athletes. I highly recommend Second Chance Fields and I salute you Josh Pratchard for all your hard work that made this a great and worthy cause.

A loyal SCF Donor

This is the best nonprofit I've ever volunteered for and I do A LOT of volunteering! Second Chance Fields volunteer event was an extremely fun atmosphere and the other volunteers were really cool, I actually made really cool friends at the event and they fed us REALLY good! Most nonprofits I volunteer at don't even feed you and if they do it's usually some crappy Pizza or some other cheap food... Not Second Chance Fields though! This is the second event that I've volunteered for with Second Chance Fields and both events I worked at they fed us Jersey Mike's Subs! Then, at the first event I volunteered at to fix Mission Bay High School's baseball field, they had a DJ spinning live music for us all day while we worked. Then this most recent event I worked at Del Norte High School they brought huge speakers out to the field and blasted music for us all weekend long! They even let me hook my phone up so I could play some of my playlists from Spotify while we worked!

Second Chance Fields is seriously the best organization I've ever volunteered for, It didn't even feel like work! I got to listen to awesome music, eat some of the best subs in all of San Diego and meet some awesome new people who are passionate just like me about sports and helping the community. I love volunteering for Second Chance Fields because when I do I really feel like I'm part of their cause and not just another body in a volunteer slave work force like with every other nonprofit I've volunteered at. With Second Chance Fields I feel like my suggestions are listened to and my opinions are taken seriously... I'm part of something important that is truly making a difference and my contribution is tangible, you can actually see what all your hard work did at the end of the day and that makes the hard weekend work totally worth it! I can't wait for their next event and I've even got a few of my friends excited about volunteering at the next event as well! So if you love your community and enjoy showing your support go to secondchancefields.org and click on their "contact us", that's how I got in contact with them after seeing their first project on the news with the SD Padres field maintenance Director. Thank you Second Chance Fields for allowing me to be a part of your cause!

I was very impressed with how amazing the field looked and how professional the volunteer event was run and organized. This organization is doing amazing things for San Diego's public high school sports and I can't wait to be a part of the next project. It was also really cool to see the dodgers first baseman, Adrian Gonzalez, supporting this nonprofit as well. I donated a 100 dollars to the cause after seeing Adrian supporting this great cause! Go Second Chance Fields!

As a parent of an athlete playing on Del Norte's lower field, I was upset and frustrated that the school would allow anyone to play on those horrible fields (dead grass, netting coming up from the ground that the kids were tripping on, heck, even I was tripping on it without cleats), something that a newer school shouldn't have to worry about. I know many parents in the past had been trying to get the field fixed, but it never seemed to go anywhere.

I was incredibly thankful when Second Chance Fields stepped in and offered to replace the field. I am impressed with the work that they did and I'm confident that this new field will last for years as long as it's properly taken care of! I no longer have nightmares of horrible injuries of my child playing on the lower fields!

Thank you Second Chance Fields for stepping up and helping Del Norte replace half of the lower sports fields! On behalf of all of the parents, and I'm sure the athletes as well, we are incredibly thankful!

I volunteered with Second Chance Fields on their Del Norte High School, "Field of Dreams" project and I was impressed by the machinery they had available, how well it was organized (including catered lunches by Jersey Mikes) and how smoothly everything ran. After talking with Josh on why he took on this project, I could tell that he was really passionate about helping these kids, being an active and positive role model for the community and his passion for sports in general. I think Second Chance Fields will continue to flourish on each project from here on out. Any school would be extremely lucky to work with this non-profit!

Josh is passionate about his projects and puts a lot time, effort and heart into it. Which produces amazing results!

Josh and his team did a fantastic job restoring a lower playing field for us here at Del Norte High School. When things went wrong on this project, which they inevitably do, Josh was present and persistent. Failure was not an option! And for that, I'm grateful. Our new lower playing field is beautiful!

It was great to work with Second chance fields on the Del Norte School we look forward in future projects

Josh was able to do what our school & school district was not able to do - make (at least half) of the backfields of DNHS safer to use... his ability to put together this team of supporters and volunteers is what we need to support sports in our schools. Looking forward to finishing this project in the future!! Thank you Josh & Second Chance Fields! and the Adrian Gonzalez Foundation for their support too!!

Second Chance Field's, Josh Pratchard, has proven what vision and tenacity can do. I have personally seen the obstacles Josh had faced to gvve the kids an amazing and safe place to play. Despite mulriple setbacks, he made things happen. Great job to Job and Second Chance Fields

Josh worked tirelessly to help renovate our field. We could have done it without him or Second Chance Fields.

Second Chance Fields gives others hope. This non-profit is greater than just grass and dirt- it gives a gift to the next generation that gives them a chance to make a difference in life themselves. Josh's vision is to change lives through his passion for sports and specifically baseball. Second Chance Fields is simply a platform to encourage others to a life of positive change in the world. I have been blessed with the opportunity to volunteer with this organization and was very impressed by the skills of Josh as the manager of the project as well as his heart and passion to see people grow. He is an excellent leader and great visionary. I have no doubt this non-profit will change many lives. With a heart and passion like Josh's, anything is possible with this non-profit.

Really neat non-profit. The owner is passionate about baseball, youth, and giving them the best opportunity possible. With school budget cuts affecting school's sporting facilities, this non-profit is a refreshing answer to that problem- by fixing up baseball fields, making them safer for student athletes to play on, and more beautiful to look at. Thanks Second Chance Fields for helping provide fields our students and community can be proud of!

As a youth, I played baseball on many fields that had very poor conditions. I am proud to be able to make a difference for youths today through my contributions supporting this program. I am thankful to ESPN Radio for supporting Second Chance Fields in spreading their mission statement.

It was a lot of fun to volunteer with second chance field at the high school and help the students get a new field.



-Raymond W

I hope this review sticks this time. When I was young I played ball in HS. I used to my lose my footing and roll my ankles a lot because the fields were junk. Gofer holes, weeds the size of tree's uprooted, rain puddles that could house koi fish. When my team played on other schools fields that were kept up, we always played better than we played at home. There is something about playing on a field that is taken care of that makes one give their all. When Josh shared his passion to give back to the community, I was truly blessed. Too bad my generation didn't have someone like Josh to do that for us. I hope and pray that this vision of Josh's spreads like wildfire because there is something special about a nice field that brings out the best in ballers that electrifies the game.

One deserves a second chance in life. One can become run down by the circumstances life throws one's way, but giving up does not lead us into success. It is staying the course, and breathing life into a lifeless situation that makes a second chance successful. That is what this organization does.

Second Chance Fields is an organization that encourages the "second chance" that we all deserve in life. One of the true marks of a person of high character is not what they do for themselves, but what they do for others. Second Chance Fields is about giving back to a community. It is not an organization that looks to see what it can get out of a situation, but looks to see what it can give to the people within a community. It is about setting kids up for success. It is about taking something that others see as past it's time, worn out, and worthless, and turning it into something that is relevant, given new life and adds value to the community.

I am excited to see more work done by this great organization that is run by even better people!

I am an umpire for High School baseball and I can tell you from first hand knowledge that there are many fields in San Diego county that could use the services of Second Chance Fields. The Mission Bay project was truly amazing, the finished product was far safer and gave the boys the opportunity to play baseball at a high level. Josh has big vision and is a gifted project manager. I would love to see them give upgrades to the many fields that I get to work.

I personally have worked with Second Chance Fields(SCF) and have to say they are very professional. We replaced the warning track and installed new foul poles for Mission Bay High School. About 40 volunteers came to help with the project and free SCF t-shirts were given to everyone. Not only did volunteers come but Jersey Mike's provided food for everyone. Josh Pratchard was nothing but professional and wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. The improvements to the field were up to MLB standards. Second Chance Fields is awesome!

I happily support this organization, Second Chance Fields. They operate in a professional manner. The projects are well-organized and impressive. The owner delivers what he promises. Excellent organization!

What a creative idea to use your talents and abilities to help a community. This is what this company does, and it is something I personally have experienced.

Baseball in our schools is forgotten many times because of a lack of funds. Kids are playing on sub-par fields and are incurring injuries; some injuries are serious enough to prevent students from playing ball in college. This situation caused the founder of Second Chase Fields to take action providing opportunities for individuals to partner with him and fix these fields in San Diego for our kids.

This founder is proactive and I have found him to be a man of his word, everything he says he will do has been accomplished. The projects he has developed and implemented have been completed in an exemplary fashion.

I have never felt so positive supporting an organization and I feel Second Chance Fields is an outstanding organization.

I know the founder and his wife personally. He is a great guy, with great character. He's passionate about helping the community of San Diego by fixing their sports fields in the SD unified school district. At this moment he doesn't even have a child in school there. I know he wants to give back to the community and help in anyway possible which is why he started the non-profit.
The founders knowledge of each project was on point; he clearly knew what he was doing and they ALL turned out great!

As a volunteer for this organization, I've had numerous conversations with both the founder and his wife and have even been asked to be part of the board. Although I had to pass on this opportunity, I was able to see and document first hand some of the work done by this organization. Professionals have been brought together with volunteers from the community and the beneficiary school to refurbish playing fields that have not had the care necessary to properly keep them at an optimal state.

My role as volunteer was as a documentary film maker of the work done for their first project as well as providing advisory guidance through some of the inception of the organization. My main role in the advisory aspect was to talk out ideas and approaches to contacts, projects and marketing via video.

Good team of folks involved here doing some solid work.

This foundation really does a great service for the young athlete. Sports programs are unfortunately not a funding priority and as a result some of the conditions of the fields our kids are made to use are sub par to say the least. This foundation goes to bat for them when no one else will. The owner Josh is truly passionate about this work and it is very clear to see that after meeting him. I have volunteered on a couple projects with them already and will continue to do so. I wish someone would've have taken up the torch for these kids sooner but I'm glad something is being done now. Thank you second chance fields.

As an avid baseball fan who's played a little bit during high school, I'm so glad to see that Second Chance Fields exists to help local schools provide better, safer playing fields for the student athletes. I have come to know the founder to be someone who is passionate about what he does and who just wants to give back to the community. That is why I've donated to this organization in the past and will continue to do so in the future!

I know the founder and his wife personally. They are great people. Josh the founder is very passionate about his work and helping the community. I think what he is doing for our kids and our fields is amazing. Keep up the great work Josh!!

The person who runs this organization is passionate about providing safe places for young athletes to hone their skills. He puts his heart and soul into each job he does. Instead of heeding naysayers, check out the work his organization has done already. It will proudly speak for itself.

This organization is setting the bar for charitable work. You won't experience a more heart felt desire to see the lives of kids and adults changed through field Charity rehab. This is what I would call faith in action! See a problem and come up with a dynamic solution. I will continue to support this effort as it drawls out so many fond memories playing sports and building relationship that will never fade away. Let's give the same opportunities that we had as kids to the next generations. Please consider partnering with second chance fields. I did! Pastor Shawn Wagner, Rock Church San Diego

I got on board and involved after meeting with the great visionary of this amazing non-profit. I assisted in the reconstruction of the Mission Bay High School warning tack. The whole process ran efficiently and professionally, not mention the end product looked phenomenal. I am eagerly awaiting and anticipating the next project Second Chance Fields will take on. Wishing them noting but continued success.

I have personally seen the work that was accomplished with the pitcher's mound and the warning track projects. It was impressive watching how smoothly the projects came together with the volunteers under the direction of the owner. His expertise and knowledge for each project was impressive. The finished projects were beautiful and to see the look on the volunteer's faces and the kid's faces who would benefit from these projects were priceless. I will continue to partner with Second Chance Fields for the professional way this company conducts business and benefits our community.

I don't know about the owners past, like one of the other commenter's pointed out.. That seems kind of petty and vendetta like...

All I can say is that I have personally been to one of the fields they worked on and it's gorgeous. If you saw how shoddy the field looked before hand, and the polished gem it is now, you would want these guys to come fix a sports area/field in your area. One of my favorite things about the owners ship of this non profit is that this is something they love doing and love doing for the community and being prideful in their work. It really shows just talking to them and looking at the work they have done. It's definitely superb work and if I was a school or a park or some place that needed this kind of work done I would certainly seek Second Chance Fields out and have them do the work.

"I was impressed after seeing the work that Second Chance Fields did with the Warning Track Project at Mission Bay High School. You can tell they put a lot of time and effort into making MBHS's baseball field one that the kids can play on safely and be proud of. Great job Second Chance Fields!"

This is a fantastic organization to rehabilitate playing fields for our youths to excel in playing the sports they love. I myself am a supporter and donor and will continue as I have personally seen what Second Chance fields is capable of. Keep up the great work!

Big promises big visions great end result. Highly recommend.

Awsome!!! Great leadership and amazing vision. Operated by a former Marine veteran and his wife