ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – The Atlanta Braves are making a major investment in youth sports across the city.
The team announced the “Hank Aaron Diamonds” program Thursday, which will provide new turf infields and other upgrades for all baseball and softball infields at high schools within Atlanta Public Schools.
The Braves said the project will create more opportunities for student athletes to compete while reducing maintenance costs for the school district.
Work is expected to start this month. The first four fields getting upgrades are at Booker T. Washington, Maynard Jackson, Benjamin E. Mays and North Atlanta high schools.
“We are extremely appreciative of this generous gift and the support of the Atlanta Braves Foundation,” Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Bryan Johnson said in a statement. “This partnership will be transformational for our baseball and softball student-athletes, as well as the schools and athletic programs that support them.”
The team said costs for the program will be covered through the Atlanta Braves Foundation’s Henry Louis Aaron Fund, and made possible by financial support from the Southern Company Foundation, Major League Baseball, Truist, Delta Air Lines, Google, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Gas South, MLB/Major League Baseball Players Association Youth Development Fund, Zeist Foundation, Comcast and The Home Depot.
“Hank Aaron was one of the greatest players this game has ever seen, but he was an even better person,” Braves President and CEO Derek Schiller said in a statement.
The Braves legend and his wife Billye “devoted so much of their time and effort to supporting the educational pursuits of young people,” Schiller said.
“The Atlanta Braves, through the Henry Louis Aaron Fund, are proud and humbled to further this legacy of service with the Hank Aaron Diamonds, in partnership with Atlanta Public Schools,” Schiller continued. “We know that these fields will enable future generations to chase their dreams, on and off the diamond, just like Hank did.”
The upgrades are expected to take two years to complete.
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