Major League Baseball (MLB), the Houston Astros, and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD) broke ground yesterday on the Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park in a special ceremony. MLB Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Jimmie Lee Solomon, Houston Astros President of Business Operations Pam Gardner and current and former Astros players were on-hand with State Representative Sylvester Turner, Houston Parks and Recreation Department Director Joe Turner and other local dignitaries to inaugurate the future site of the second MLB Urban Youth Academy, which will provide year-round free baseball and softball instruction to local youth ages 7-17.
After the groundbreaking ceremony, which was emceed by Houston Astros Hall of Fame Broadcaster Milo Hamilton, MLB hosted 250 children from the Harris Academy and the local Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) Program presented by KPMG in a youth-oriented event called Wanna Play?, providing various baseball activities such as batting and pitching cages, base running contests, wiffle ball games and demonstrations by Houston Astros players Michael Bourn, LaTroy Hawkins and Wesley Wright and Astros Manager Dave Clark. Wanna Play? was launched at the 2009 Gillette Civil Rights Game in Cincinnati and is intended to provide baseball activities to young people in urban areas.
Area youth attended the free afternoon session of Wanna Play? from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. featuring former Astros Jimmy Wynn, former Astros General Manager and current MLB Vice President of On-Field Operations Bob Watson and Darryl Hamilton, former Major League outfielder and member of the MLB On-Field Operations staff. In addition to baseball-related activities, the kids were treated to a Nintendo Wii Video Game Station, music and giveaways of baseball gloves, Astros game tickets and more.
“Major League Baseball continually strives to provide youth across the country with opportunities to play baseball and softball,” said Solomon. “The Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park is another step in the right direction in teaching the children in urban areas about our great sport, and we are proud to make such a significant investment in the City of Houston.”
“We are honored to have the Houston Astros team up with the City of Houston and Major League Baseball to develop and support the Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park,” said Houston Astros Chairman and CEO Drayton McLane. “This is an excellent opportunity for our team to make a positive difference in the community by making the great sport of baseball and softball available to our aspiring young athletes year round. You learn so much more than just skills of the game when you play a team sport, and we want to ensure these kids are champions on and off the field!”
Located in north Houston, the Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park will feature a show field complete with scoreboard; permanent seating for 500 fans, with space for an additional 1,800 fans; dugouts and lights; one auxiliary field; two little league/softball fields and batting cages; and 1,500 square feet of office space and other facilities. To date, MLB has established and is operating an Academy in Compton, California and earlier this year signed an agreement to build another in Hialeah, Florida. Major League Baseball and the Houston Astros contributed $600,000 to the construction of the Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park, which equaled the contributions by both the City of Houston and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
“The positive impact the Houston Urban Youth Academy will yield upon the children and community in Northwest Houston is simply endless. I am overwhelmed with appreciation and gratitude to MLB, the Astros, and the City of Houston for sharing my vision for what is possible. It is exciting to think about creating a program which will motivate children and reinvigorate the community,” stated Representative Turner.
The Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park will staff local high school, collegiate, current and former professional ballplayers to help run the different Major League-caliber training camps and clinics throughout the year. It will offer the free programs to a minimum of 2,500 youth. Additional instructors, collegiate coaches, scouts, and certified athletic trainers will also work with young athletes at the Academy. The Academy will open its doors to all who want to participate from the Houston area with enrollment open year-round.
In addition to baseball and softball instruction, boys and girls attending the Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park will be given the opportunity to participate in free seminars on umpiring, athletic field management, scouting and player development, sports and broadcast journalism, public relations and statistics, as well as athletic sports training. The Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park will create a diversified program for students that will not only concentrate on baseball and softball, but educational opportunities as well. The Academy’s goal is to graduate 100 percent of the youth it serves.
The Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park will be modeled after the first Urban Youth Academy. Opening its doors in 2006, the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton has proven that it can help to grow the game with more than 75 student-athletes drafted since its inception. In total, 49 student-athletes have signed professional contracts and 76 Academy student-athletes have gone on to participate in collegiate baseball and softball programs.
In addition to the instructional leagues conducted throughout the year at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, the Academy also has hosted many youth baseball events including the RBI World Series presented by KPMG, the championship round of the RBI program presented by KPMG; the Urban Invitational, a highly competitive college baseball tournament featuring Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) playing top-tier universities in the Southern California area; the Breakthrough Series in partnership with USA Baseball featuring three teams with players from the MLB Urban Youth Academy, Mentoring Viable Prospects and the Major League Scouting Bureau; and the Academy Barons, a California Collegiate League team consisting of collegiate athletes from around the southern California area. One-week umpiring camps are also held at the Academy for those interested in umpiring, improving their skills from the Little League to Major League levels. Currently, 23 former Umpire Camp attendees are working in the Minor Leagues.
