KALAMAZOO, Mich. – With the No. 2 printed on their backs, nearly 150 local kids ran onto the field where one of the best Major League Baseball players began his storied career.
Some play on their own softball or baseball team in their spare time. Some stick to the backyard and play with plastic bats and balls. Others had never even stepped foot on a baseball diamond before. But none of that mattered when MLB and the Turn 2 Foundation partnered to put on a Play Ball clinic on Derek Jeter Field at Kalamazoo Central High School on Wednesday.
“Any time we have an opportunity to support Turn 2, we’re gonna be here,” said David James, vice president of baseball and softball development for MLB.
For the participants, it was a day full of fun and activities. They bounced from station to station, practicing their baseball and softball skills alongside the Kalamazoo baseball and softball teams. In one part of the outfield, the kids learned how to track a fly ball. In another, they took some swings and learned the proper throwing technique.
When they got to the infield, they fielded balls like Jeter and burned the rest of their energy by learning how to properly run the bases. On their way off the field, they each received the customary Play Ball bat and ball set to take home and continue practicing.
“I think it’s about access, [and] that these kids get an opportunity to come out and play,” James said. “I think there’s a lot of kids here that haven’t played before, and so they have this opportunity. There’s no pressure. … We never see anybody go away empty handed, so we know it works.”
For Sharlee Jeter, though, this event brought more than just a smile to her face. The president of the Turn 2 Foundation and the sister of the Hall of Fame shortstop recognized just how special it was to be back where she and her brother grew up, watching these kids fall in love with a game her family has cherished for so long.
“I think it’s important to teach kids and teach them at this age without a glove, without a bat, coming out here with nothing,” Sharlee Jeter said, “and just learning how amazing and how fun the game and sport can be. And hopefully we’ll have some kids that maybe didn’t consider playing ball before leave here wanting to play the game."
This event also opened up an opportunity for a handful of Jeter’s Leaders -- a four-year leadership development program for local high schoolers that fosters academic achievement, positive behavior and social change. This group has given back more than $45 million to its community over its 29-year history.
“It just honestly means everything,” said Brooklyn Gardner, an active Jeter’s Leader. “Being able to be in a leadership position and do things like this, giving back to the community, helping out kids, as well as bettering ourselves and our leadership skills, I think it just means the world to me.”
This role often takes these high schoolers all over the country to learn as much as they can. But on Wednesday, they were able to just go out on the field and play like the rest of the kids.
“We want to be upbeat ourselves,” Jeter’s Leader Gabriel Cos said. “We want to make sure that the kids are knowing what they’re doing, learning and having fun. At the end of the day, it’s about what the kids want to do, while still making sure that they’re learning how baseball works.”
This marked the second event that MLB and the Turn 2 Foundation have hosted together, and both parties are looking forward to this continuing in the future.
“It’s huge,” Sharlee Jeter said of the relationship with MLB. “I mean, there’s nowhere to go after this. To have MLB’s support means we’re doing something right and we just love working together on this initiative and just teaching young people the game that we love so much.”