St. Louis Cardinals Manager Oliver Marmol Launches Instructional App For Good Causes

It seems a stretch, at least on the surface, to connect the dots between the poverty-stricken areas of Guatemala and an artificial intelligence-driven app aimed to help aspiring athletes in baseball and softball.

However, it was while working to help poor children on a mission trip in Guatemala in which the idea was hatched in the minds of St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and his wife Amber’s minds.

Marmol was a coach in the Cardinals’ minor league system in 2013 when he and Amber went on a week-long mission to an orphanage in the Central America country. It was an eye-opening trip for the couple, who are devout Christians.

“It was the most poverty we’ve ever seen in our lives, and it changed the way we kind of did life and handled our finances moving forward,” Marmol said.

The Marmols began thinking of ways they could make a bigger impact for the Guatemalan children. Amber came up with the idea of Oliver starting a company where he would provide baseball lessons to young players and 50% of that money would go to a feeding center in Guatemala.

“There was a village of kids who were eating only one meal every three days,” Marmol recalled. “At the end of the year, we wrote a check, and they were able to eat three meals a day for about six or seven months.

“They sent us a picture and it was a big wooden table with everybody around it with food in front of them. My wife, as soon as she saw it, said ‘how do we do this times two million?’”

That eventually led to Versus (VS), a recently launched new sports edtech platform combining world-class athletes and conversational video AI to bring video content that provides lessons to young athletes they can use on and off the field.

VS includes some big baseball names, including Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, St. Louis Cardinals stars Albert Pujols and Adam Wainwright and suspended San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. Among those who provide softball instruction and tips are Jennie Finch and Jessica Mendoza.

It all traces back to the conversation Oliver and Amber had when they returned from Guatemala for the first time.

“We had a lot of connections in the sports world and in the entertainment space,” Marmol said. “She said, ‘why don’t we put a high level of production around these athletes and allow them to teach how they became successful not only with the skill acquisition component, but the mental and emotional side of what goes into performing at the highest level and that’s how they deal with fear and doubt and anxiety and struggles and, and really allow them to pull back the curtain on what makes them successful?’”

The Marmols spent many hours kicking around ideas with former Cardinals manager Mike Shildt, who is now a special advisor with the Padres. Marmol was promoted from bench coach by St. Louis in the offseason after Shildt was fired and is the youngest current manager in the major leagues at 36.

VS will contribute 10% of its topline revenue to charitable organizations that focus on development and access for underserved youth around the United States.

Each of the athletes featured on VS were asked at least 600 questions on a wide range of topics. That gives the users the ability to ask questions and receive answers in real time in conversational AI technology built by StoryFile.

“We obviously aren’t able to have them answer questions directly in real time, but we feel we’ve covered anything someone could possibly want answered,” said Eric Frye, chief executive officer of Versus.

VS has three different pricing tiers, including a free trial that includes one session and 10 questions a month. All course content and 20 questions are available for $199 yearly. For $299 a year, customers can have unlimited access to all courses and questions.

Marmol believes the videos and questions can help young athletes of all skill levels.

“I credit a lot of my success to a word we talk about a lot within the company, which is access,” Marmol said. “I was given access to some of the most brilliant minds out there. And if it wasn’t for those opportunities to expedite my development, I don’t think I would hold the chair I hold today.

“So, if I was going to be around Albert Pujols or Whitey Herzog or any of these guys at a dinner or charity event, whatever the case may be, I was super intentional about asking them at least three questions. Now, we’re trying to give that same access of some of the great minds in baseball and softball to young athletes and hope they can benefit the way I have.”