More than 30,000 kids from Boys & Girls Clubs across the country will soon be stepping up to the plate with “Fun At Bat After School,” a major expansion of the free bat-and-ball instruction program co-sponsored by Major League Baseball and USA Baseball. In an exclusive collaboration with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the program’s extension will reach over 400 club chapters in all 50 states.

“If I had access to a program like this, my whole life would probably change,” said MLB chief baseball development officer Tony Reagins, a Boys & Girls Clubs of America Hall of Famer. “These kids, over the course of the next year, will have an opportunity to learn something that will enhance their character. I look at it as major organizations invested in kids that will then, in turn, benefit our sport and our world.”

Reagins announced the program’s launch Thursday morning at the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx, N.Y., along with Boys & Girls Clubs of America national vice president of business and community affairs Frank Sanchez; USA Baseball CEO and executive director Paul Seiler; and Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club CEO Daniel Quintero.

Dozens of children from the Kips Bay club attended the announcement, held in the facility’s Lucile Palmaro Clubhouse, donning matching “Fun At Bat” T-shirts. After a surprise visit from Mets mascot Mr. Met, the kids warmed up as a group, ran drills across the field, hit balls off of tees and played catch with Seiler in a demonstration of the new program’s curriculum.

Sanchez was a member of the Kips Bay chapter himself -- beginning when he was just 6 years old. After leading the kids in chanting “we are Kips Bay” and “Fun At Bat” during the announcement, he said he sees his younger self in the club’s current members and is confident that the program will make an incredible impact on their lives.

“Everything I know about being a good person and citizen, everything I know about sports, competition and teamwork -- it all started at Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club,” Sanchez said. “This program, in a fun way, is going to teach all those skills that are going to make these young people not only baseball fans and players, but world-class citizens. It's not just about baseball. It's about fun -- and developing the next generation of world-class citizens.”

After he was given a tour of the Kips Bay facility and had addressed the club’s members, Seiler expressed enthusiasm for the new program. He noted the passion and excitement he witnessed while speaking to the facility’s staff.

“'Committed' doesn't even do justice to what they bring to the kids, and this is a part of their world every day,” Seiler said. “You can't help but then want to be a part of what it -- whether it's Kips Bay or any Boys & Girls Club -- is doing to further opportunity for kids who need this as a part of their world and their lives. It really is overwhelming and humbling.”

The new curriculum is designed for kids between the ages 6-18. Chapters who participate in the newly-launched “Fun At Bat After School” program will receive equipment, 50 instructional books, a comprehensive guide to the program and an online instructor course -- all free of charge.

Part of MLB’s “Play Ball” initiative, which aims to inspire children to play baseball and softball, the original “Fun At Bat” program was introduced in 2015. It began as a physical education curriculum for schools, and now over four million children across the world have access to it. Based on research into entry-level youth sports instruction, it encompasses character-building activities, literacy training and active play.