SARASOTA - City leaders will soon have a plan to try and make Sarasota the future Spring Training home for the Boston Red Sox, and the movement to get the taxpayers on board has already started.

Sarasota city manager Bob Bartolotta says they are still at the beginning of the planning stages, but won't even consider releasing the cost of bringing the Red Sox to Sarasota until there is a reliable number.  He doesn't want the same back and forth issue that happened with the Reds.

But when more information is ready to be released, one Sarasota resident is working to make sure the people will be ready to act.

"This is the grassroots effort, absolutely."  Elsie Souza is a lifetime Red Sox fan.  And from her office at home, she's hoping to make Sarasota the Spring Training home of her favorite team.  "I wasn't even thinking, I just wanted to be part of something to bring the Red Sox.  Had no clue, but it was destiny."

Sousa started Citizens For Sox at the request of Sarasota City Commissioner Kelly Kirschner.  He told her she was the 10th person to ask about the team, and she says the interest continues to grow.  "My phone is ringing, the e-mails are happening, the people are smiling, they are like, we just want to do something, we want it to happen."

She says the group will help mobilize residents at the beginning of the process to bring the Sox from Fort Myers, where they currently train.  But there is another reason for her involvement.  Her son Chris died 14 years ago from cancer, and he, along with her father, were the 2 biggest sox fans around.  "What a perfect thing to do to carry on the memory of 2 special men in my life to bring something to a community I've fallen in love with."

People we talked to in downtown Sarasota also seem to be in love with the idea of the Red Sox training here.  "I'm not a great baseball fan, but I think it would be great for the city.  Coming from Connecticut, I could even root for them even though I am really a Yankee fan."

"I think it would be wonderful.  I think it would be great for the economy, and I think it would add a little flavor."

However, just under 50% of people voting in our online poll question agree if it means having to build a new stadium in order for a deal to be complete.

But for Souza, she'll continue using her own computer to help make Sarasota a permanent part of Red Sox nation.  "The stadium, you can't even get a ticket for there.  You can't even get a ticket for Spring Training here, it's a passion beyond passions."