While baseball is traditionally played from Spring to Fall, the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in Southeast, DC, is open year-round. As a volunteer coach and mentor for the past eight years, it has been a pleasure to interact with these upstanding young women and men, as well as their families.
In December 2024, the Youth Baseball Academy was honored with the Allan H. Selig Award for Philanthropic Excellence. For 10 years, the Academy has used baseball and softball as vehicles to foster positive character development, academic achievement, and improved health among youth living in underserved communities. Josiah Gray is the current player representative to the YBA, and the Nationals first player representative, Ian Desmond, received the Power of Baseball Award a few weeks ago at the Washington Nationals Homecoming Gala for his contributions to this now thriving program.
In November 2024, the TalkNats family and two Facebook groups (Nationals RCR Codes and DIEHARD NATIONALS FANS) also used baseball as a force for good when we held our 4th annual “The Kids Really Will Love It” RCR points drive to convert RCR points into swag and smiles for these scholar athletes. Thanks to your generous donations, we amassed 164,214 points and exchanged this for a multitude of items, including jerseys, pullovers, hats, socks, Star Wars beanies, sunglasses, and K-Bear plush dolls.
Recently, DonH, Sec. 222, and I went to the YBA to deliver these items. Accompanying us was Drew Shrager, Nationals Season Plan Holder Account Executive, who was instrumental in facilitating the points drive and arranging for the contribution of several bonus items. YBA staff Charlie Sperduto, Senior Director, Civic Engagement & Operations, and Janay Morant, Associate, Volunteerism & Alumni Relations, provided a tour of this remarkable facility located near Fort Circle Park in Southeast DC.
This year, there are a record number of scholar athletes in 3rd through 8th grade (about 18 per grade) who attend the core after-school program. Healthy snacks and dinner are provided. Enrichment activities have included cooking classes by DC Central Kitchen, chess instruction, karate, art, and African drumming. In 2024, there were 1,026 unique participants in baseball and softball instruction at four site locations in DC (one of which is at the Academy).
Spring baseball and softball practices have started on Monday and Wednesday nights, respectively, and that’s mostly when we distribute the items made possible by your generosity. Staff, volunteer coaches, and scholar athletes give shoutouts at the end of every practice. Accolades are dispensed not for success on the field, but instead to those who exhibit important core values on and off the diamond. A recipient doesn’t have to be a perfect example of virtue. Small improvements are also recognized and praised. Some of the best shoutouts I’ve witnessed are for a girl or boy who turned things around after having a difficult first half of practice.
One of my recent shoutouts was for a girl who displayed patience and poise at my Circle BP station, where about 15 girls and boys form a circle around coaches who lob balls to the batters. I spent most of my time (each station lasts approximately 10 minutes) with several other youngsters at the expense of this one girl who was much more skilled at hitting. She didn’t complain at all and eagerly encouraged those near her. Such maturity!
Last week I was at Nationals Park on the centerfield concourse watching batting practice when a young man came up to me, introduced himself, and asked if I was a mentor at the Academy. I replied yes. Although he’s only in 4th grade, he also knew the name of my 7th grade mentee. During our conversation, he saw a woman taking a selfie with the field as a backdrop. He quietly but confidently approached her and offered to take her picture. We were both so impressed. I then went with him to meet his parents a few hundred feet away where I recounted his kind gesture.
As I’ve often said, the highlights of my week are Monday evenings (baseball practice) and Thursday evenings (mentoring for 7th and 8th graders). These scholar athletes and their families continue to build their already stellar character, while also improving their baseball and softball skills. High school alumni regularly return to the Academy as mentors themselves, providing invaluable connections to those closer to their age range.
While we were there, we noticed a number of college-age women practicing at the facility. The staff told us that several local college softball teams practice there. And sometimes road teams do as well. The teams pay a fee to use the facility, but they also are expected to make other contributions like meeting with the kids and providing coaching and encouragement.
And there are now several YBA alumni playing college baseball, who I and others at the YBA fully expect will get drafted by an MLB team in a few years’ time. It would indeed be great if the Nationals picked a YBA alumni. That will be an exciting first for the Academy, but we look forward to the future accomplishments of these talented and poised young women and men in whatever endeavors they pursue.
To volunteer with the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy go here and to donate go here. Note that Nationals Philanthropies is a 501(c)(3) organization, so contributions are tax deductible. For those of us who are at least 70½, you can make a Qualified Charitable Contribution directly from your IRA and pay no taxes on the withdrawal.
Thanks again to everyone who assisted in this wonderful project.
