Beyond the Game: How 91 Pairs of Sneakers Became a Lesson in Leadership

Written By Brennan Coe

At Pipeline Sports Performance, we’ve always believed that being a premier baseball and softball training facility means more than developing elite athletes. It means developing leaders—young people who understand responsibility, accountability, and their impact beyond the field.

This past December, that belief took shape through a sneaker recycling drive inspired by MLB Green, Major League Baseball’s environmental sustainability initiative.

91 Pairs. Real Impact.

Throughout the drive, 91 pairs of athletic sneakers were collected and diverted from landfills.

Athletic shoes can take 30–40 years to decompose, often releasing harmful chemicals and microplastics in the process. Recycling even a single pair helps reduce landfill waste and allows materials like rubber, foam, and textiles to be repurposed responsibly. By collecting 91 pairs, our community helped prevent hundreds of pounds of waste from entering the environment—while giving our athletes a tangible way to see how small actions create real change.

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What started inside our facility quickly grew beyond it.

We’re grateful to 4:8 Physio and The Property Group 850, both of whom hosted their own sneaker drives on our behalf and collected additional donations through their networks.

We also want to recognize ODST Labs, our website partner, who expanded the reach of this initiative far beyond Pensacola—collecting sneakers across Georgia and Arizona through their network and delivering them to Florida to support the drive. Their involvement reinforced an important lesson: meaningful impact isn’t limited by geography.

More Than Training

At Pipeline, athlete development has always extended beyond mechanics, metrics, and technology.

Through initiatives like our Homeschool Program, our role as a Step Up for Students provider, and the upcoming volunteer opportunities through Pipeline Prime Baseball—which will allow athletes to earn community service hours toward scholarships—we’re intentional about developing well-rounded individuals.

The sneaker drive became another teaching moment. Our athletes didn’t just donate shoes; they learned how environmental responsibility fits into the culture of the sport they love and what it means to care for the game at every level.

Setting the Standard

As an industry leader in performance training, we believe facilities like ours have a responsibility to model leadership—on and off the field. This initiative wasn’t about attention or scale. It was about action.

And it started with inspiration from MLB Green, whose work encouraged us to bring sustainability into our own community.

If 91 pairs of sneakers can spark awareness and conversation, imagine what’s possible when more teams and facilities step in.

Thank you to every athlete, family, and partner who made this drive a success. We’re proud of what was accomplished—and even more excited about what comes next.

Brennan Coe

Coach Brennan Coe has been pouring his passion for baseball and knowledge of the game into young minds since 2011, when his playing career came to an end and his high-level coaching experience began. Since then, he has organized and led numerous coaching clinics throughout the Panhandle of Florida and has instructed thousands of hours of both private and group lessons.

After his playing career ended, Brennan bounced between jobs while finishing his degree — but he just couldn't get away from his love for the game. He worked for a few different academies, soaking up as much knowledge and experience as possible while working alongside several incredibly bright leaders. Unfortunately, in 2018, the academy he was employed at permanently closed its doors.

Across all of Brennan's time as a coach, he has always taken pride in studying and analyzing countless hours of different hitters, pitchers, and position players to constantly match the knowledge of the game. This passion, along with the extensive database of experience and knowledge he collected during the years before, fueled the development of Pipeline Sports Performance.

Brennan loves getting to know each kid who walks through doors at Pipeline and build positive relationships with them that will impact their lives forever.

Coach Brennan Coe graduated from the University of West Florida in the Summer of 2017 with his degree in Sport Management. He is a co-founder of multiple travel organizations and is the founder of the Pipeline Prime organization. He is also certified by USA baseball in 4 categories.

Brennan was a three-year varsity starter/closing pitcher at Navarre High School from 2005-09. He was awarded MVP his senior year and pitched a no-hitter in the '09 All-star game. After high school, Brennan received a full baseball scholarship to Wallace Community College. The following season he transferred to Delgado Community College, where his team won the Region XXIII Tournament. 

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Balancing School, Training, and Life as a Student-Athlete