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A team of 16 friends who came from less than even humble beginnings ranging from the ages of 12-16 came together from the area surrounding two Simpson Road Housing projects. With the help of three young girls who sold Krispy Kreme donuts on Saturday mornings and went into the community to solicit donations, the young Trojans were able to purchase their own uniforms. The word quickly spread all over city about the unformidable and winning ways of these little but mighty giants, The Simpson Road Trojans. To give a view and set the stage of the team’s dynamic, while other coaches in the Little League were 30+ in age, their coach, Coach Larry Morrow, was only 16 years old. He also was working at the same time a Sports Correspondent for the Atlanta Inquirer.
However, the race to home plate was not they only race they had to successfully run. On many of occasions while leaving away games, some of the mere teenagers were chased by loads of racist White citizens in pick-up trucks driven by adult White men. Others experienced jumping off their front porches to avoid being hit by homemade gasoline bombs thrown by these “Riders” as they raided through the neighborhood reminiscent of the “Klan Night Riders” from days of O’.
These young Trojans would go on to face an even greater face of racism, the intangible one; the 1960 Southern white political structure.  In 1963, after being “made” to play but successfully destroying the best of the white teams, The Simpson Road Trojans won their place as the first Black Little League team to receive an invitation to go to the National Little League Series tournament in Philadelphia. The excitement was felt all over the city but could not be felt any greater than in the Simpson Road neighborhoods. The high would come to screeching halt as the local Little League Officials would make a last-ditch post- regular season claim that Roland Cleveland of the Trojans was passed the allowable age to play. Roland was only 12 but stood more than 6ft tall and weighted 145 pounds.
Civil rights icons such as Jesse Hill (Atlanta Inquirer; President of Atlanta Life Insurance Company), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Paul Ex Brown (the highest Black executive at        Coca-Cola), and Jondelle Johnson (NAACP Membership Chair / National Inquirer), Black sports organizations, Black politicians, and Black neighborhoods all over the city got involved. Roland’s Birth Certificate was later found to be valid. However, the Little League World Series Committee advised the team that the certification and validation of the Birth Certificate was after the deadline and a local White team was sent in their place.
Coca-Cola and Paul Ex Brown honored the Trojans with a banquet at the legendary    Pascals Restaurant. This too was groundbreaking as the soft drink giant was not known for being involved in political issues of race or race relations. 
Of the original 16 members, nine which includes Coach Larry Morrow, are still living today and here to tell their story. Two of the three young ladies who sold doughnuts to help the team, are also living today. Beverly Ragsdale, Team Mother, at the young of 90 years old stands in proxy for her son Greg Ragsdale who played on the original team.
The Simpson Road Trojans, LLC incorporated in 2022 as a 501c3 give scholarships to underprivileged Little Leaguers to pay for the expensive and exorbitant fees associated with playing community baseball today.
The Simpson Road Trojans, LLC is seeking financial sponsorship to finance the feature film “The Simpson Road Trojans - A League of Friends”. We are reaching out to corporate sponsors and individual donors for assistance in underwriting this story that needs to be told in such a time as now.
Please see the below link or you can visit YOUTUBE @ The Simpson Road Trojans channel.
https://youtu.be/sZCnWylElPM?si=XItA7v7ya1x062Bg