I have been blessed with the opportunity to play Major League Baseball for 7 seasons. Baseball has given me opportunities to positively influence others, provide for my family and compete against some of the best athletes in the world. If it were up to me, I'd encourage everyone to play baseball regardless of race, ethnicity, height, weight, age and even ability level. Therefore, this project is designed with kids in mind. I simply want to encourage our youth to play this great game of baseball!
Many of my Major League friends are involved (see Pro Partners) and they will tell you their success did not start at the Major League level, it started during T-Ball and Little League, in the backyard and on the streets. We started playing as youngsters and have continued to play the game we love. We simply want to encourage kids to play the game, enjoy the competition, and learn the character lessons that baseball has to offer. The opportunity to play does not start at the Major League level as young men, it starts at the adolescent and youth ages. In other words, it does not start at the top "it starts at the bottom".
Our first step is to make an effort to encourage kids to play the game of baseball in the inner cities where so many kids are overlooked and have limited resources and opportunities. We believe there is a direct correlation between the number of kids playing youth baseball and those who reach the Major Leagues. Did you know that the number of African American Major League players has dramatically decreased over the last 10 years? In fact, the number of African American Major Leaguers has dwindled down from 27% in 1978 to 8% in 2006. Perhaps with our efforts and the efforts of many others, we can improve on this statistic.
It is therefore my desire to initiate a program that will help address the problem. With this in mind, I have reached an agreement with Little League Baseball International to help sponsor 2 nationally known events. The first of these events is a program that will enable some of our African American youth an opportunity to participate at the Little League World Series, the worlds most recognized competition in youth sports. Four teams will participate in a 2 day exhibition and experience the culture, excitement, the fanfare and great competition during August of 2006 at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.
The second event will take place in May, 2007 in what is known as the Little League Urban Initiative Jamboree. The Jamboree is part of Little League's Urban Initiative program. The program was developed in 2000, and has grown to 268,000 players, all from inner city or underprivileged environments around the country. The Jamboree will be a 16 team event where the emphasis is more on participation than competition. It is used to encourage kids to play the game, improve, and most importantly continue playing into high school and college. This event will also be played in Williamsport, PA which again enables these kids an opportunity to participate in a highly visible, nationally known event.
We have also identified a need to support other inner city baseball programs like the RBI (Reviving Baseball In Inner Cities) program founded by John Young. It is our goal to supply baseball equipment, gear, baseballs and other baseball related products to RBI with proceeds from this project. Every dollar we receive will go directly towards building up inner city baseball programs around the country.
We are thankful to Little League Baseball for the establishment of the Urban Initiative Program and for allowing us to partner with them on this project. We also appreciate the efforts of Major League Baseball in contributing to various inner city programs around the country.
I am committed to this project and will be financially sponsoring the program along with other professional ball players. It is my desire that this is the start of something big, something that will really touch the lives of kids who need and want some help.
For more information please call David James at 951-784-6346