In the inner city of Atlanta, it looks like there is a baseball diamond on every corner. There are definitely more fields in Atlanta than in the suburbs where I live. The fields are nicer in my neck of the woods, but we still have less.

In the suburbs, you won’t find marching bands practicing on the baseball fields. They aren’t used for parking during football games and it is a crime to practice your chip shot and walk your dogs. But when there are no programs to use the fields for the designed purpose, these things happen to baseball fields in the inner city.

Everything starts as new but it has to be maintained. I hear theories that baseball will experience resurgence in the black community if new fields are built. What we need to do is restore the fields that we have, maintain them and offer strong programs to put them to best use.

On Saturday, July 17th, L.E.A.D. will restore the baseball field at Perkerson Park with Georgia Sports Turf Management Association (GSTMA). The field will be restored by pros and will be just as immaculate as Turner Field. GSTMA will also train the L.E.A.D. coaches and parents on the proper way to maintain the field for sustainability.

L.E.A.D. will continue to offer its program to help inner city males access college using baseball. We have a proven track record; 83% of our Ambassadors have entered college with baseball scholarships and 100% have gone to college.

On July 17th, inner-city middle and high school baseball players will be able to have their cake and eat it too!

In the fall of 2009, 8 high school seniors were selected to be Ambassadors that would represent L.E.A.D. Our bigger goal as an organization was to put these eight families in a position to access college.

Like baseball, sometimes you swing and miss, hit a homerun or a combination of both. Well in 2010, L.E.A.D. is 8 for 8 with 8 homeruns. All 8 of our graduating seniors will be attending college in the fall of 2010 with baseball scholarships.

Strategic planning, persistence, commitment and good ole fashion love is a good formula for success. There is an infinite amount of numbers in the world but this year for L.E.A.D., 8 is GREAT!

To understand the road ahead, ask those who’ve traveled it before. Success leaves clues.

This week, I had an opportunity to hear stories of Atlanta from back in the day from a man that was raised in the Capital View/Perkerson Park community.

In his day, every resident depended on the community; every resident depended on each other. It was safe. There was pride in ownership of the community and it was loved by all its members. At the center of it all?

Athletics. In his day, the programs were offered and run by a local church, the “hub” of it all he said. In our day, the church he spoke of no longer exists. The city has recreation programs, but like most municipalities, are strapped for cash. And what’s one of the first things to go? You guessed it, athletic/recreation programs.

But L.E.A.D. is there. We serve that same community today. The church may be gone, but the people are still there – the children are still there. And they all want what we have to offer- baseball and an opportunity to make a better life for themselves by using baseball to go to college. L.E.A.D. is positively changing one child at a time, one household at a time. Ironic isn’t? Sounds just like the formula for building better communities:-)

Saturday was a great baseball practice despite the rain. Everyone showed up on time and the agenda was packed with lots of baseball development opportunities. A fun and enriching day of practice concluded and it was time for me to get home to hang out with the family.

A couple of my young Leaders needed a ride home. An hour later, after everyone had been picked up, we set out for their houses. When I asked them how to get to their house, they said, “go there and turn here.”

I thought for a second and the question came to my head before it leaves my mouth. But I had to ask.

“Do you know your right from left?”

“No coach.”

“Ok guys, your left side is the side of your heart.”

“Got it coach…Turn left on this street coach…Thank you for the ride Coach C.J.”

Being able to give directions and knowing left from right is just one example of the fact that without exposure, students can miss out on a lot of learning opportunities. With budget restraints, it is difficult for schools to expose students to new opportunities.

L.E.A.D. meets our Leaders where they are. We are in a position to ask about their dreams and connect our Leaders with possibilities through enrichment opportunities in the city. For the Leader that dreams of being an architect, L.E.A.D. connects him with the design team that built Turner Field. After visiting City Hall this year, L.E.A.D. Ambassador Julian Phiffer said, “I’m going to be the Mayor of Atlanta one day!” And L.E.A.D. extends learning from the classroom so that the city may benefit from our Leaders through service every 4th Saturday of every month throughout the year.

Schools can’t do it all. L.E.A.D. exists to support. To connect. It is difficult to focus on right and wrong when you don’t know your right from your left.

Every year, ballparks and schools invite speakers to come to inner city venues to talk about the great game of baseball. If timing is right, the youth may even get a chance to attend a camp. But what happens after that? After the guest speaker is gone and the camp crew boards their flight at Hartsfield-Jackson, what do the kids have left to grow on? The dilemma is, the “after” part takes a lot of investment – time, money, etc. The meaning of the word investment means to reap a future benefit that’s larger than your initial input OR effort. So on the front end, effective programming (you’ll see that word a lot here) may be costly to implement, but so is funding a child through the judicial system from youth to and through adulthood on the back end.
If I attend a school to speak to 200 young men about why they should play baseball and tell them to hang in there and leave never to return, did I do a good deed? Or did I just plant a seed of hope that has no chance of growing because I didn’t provide resources to nourish it?

Talking has its place but consistent action must follow if we expect change. We keep talking but the numbers of African Americans competing in baseball keeps declining. Being from the south, Dr. King is one of my most respected and revered people of all time. He wrote a lot of speeches, spent a lot of time talking, but boy did he walk his talk. I’m aspiring to be the Dr. King of inner city baseball; will you join me?