Donated items delivered to YBA

For over nine years, I have had the pleasure of coaching baseball and mentoring at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy on Monday and Thursday nights. Those are my favorite days of the week.

Last fall, Talk Nats and two Facebook groups – Nationals RCR Codes and DIEHARD NATIONALS FANS, generously donated a whopping record 231,526 Red Carpet Rewards points to our 5th annual The Kids Will Really Love it! RCR points drive. Thank you all very much for your support of our scholar athletes and this wonderful organization!

Thank you as well to DonH and Section 222, who assisted in the drive, and then-Nationals season plan representative Drew Shrager, who was instrumental in facilitating the donation process and helped collect and deliver to us the haul of swag that the Nationals provided.  

One of three baseball fields at YBA

Recently, Section 222 and I were able to visit the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy to deliver a great collection of Nats-related items obtained with your donated points, including Curly W and Cherry Blossom jackets and Josh Gibson and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) bobbleheads. This post will give you some idea of how these items will be used.

At the end of baseball and softball practices, the girls and boys give “shoutouts” to each other, followed by the coaches. Shoutouts are intended to identify scholar athletes who exemplify the Academy’s core values: Be Outstanding – Be Healthy – Be a Leader – and Continue to Learn. We follow up coach shoutouts by presenting the girls and boys something tangible to demonstrate our appreciation for their efforts. These physical gifts, many of which you helped provide, serve as a lasting reminder to the scholar athletes of their contributions to the Academy and what they have to offer to their peers.

Before practice begins, coaches warm up with the girls and boys. As new arrivals come, we incorporate them into the back and forth throws. On his own, a boy I was warming up with greeted a newcomer, shook their hand, and introduced himself, welcoming them to the group. At the conclusion of practice, in front of the entire group gathered around the pitcher’s mound, I gave a shoutout to the boy for his leadership and being a friend to others.

Field observation deck viewed from classroom at YBA

Charlie Sperduto, Senior Director, Civic Engagement and Operations, has said, “We want them to have a fun time and come back the next day.” Upon hearing this many years ago, I’ve tried to remember this counsel and conduct myself in such a manner. This young boy who introduced himself to the newcomer is helping build a strong and powerful community and deserved to be recognized.

The Academy is full of outstanding young women and men who have a lot to offer, and the program has now been around long enough that some YBA alums have graduated from college.  Indeed, the Nats’ Opening Day ceremonies last week featured Amir Makle, a member of the first class of YBA scholar athletes to graduate from college. Makle graduated magna cum laude and played on the baseball team at Morehouse College. He was part of a remarkable generational first pitch, which included William Douglas Foster Jr., grandnephew of the “Father of Negro Leagues” and grandson of one of the greatest Negro Leagues pitchers ever, 99-year-old Maybelle Blair, who played in the All-American Girls Baseball League in the late 1940s, and Skylar Kaplan, who will play in the Women’s Professional Baseball League which starts this summer. Current YBA scholar athlete Tre threw the actual ceremonial first pitch, right on target to Daylen Lile.

While baseball and softball skills are taught at the Academy, the primary objective is not to develop ballplayers; rather, it is a values-driven program. Quite a few of the 3rd to 8th graders who participate in the core after-school programming offered at the Academy have interests other than baseball or softball. Their interests and skills are identified, encouraged, and nurtured. 120 scholar athletes attend the Academy after their school finishes for the day. In addition, in 2025, the Academy helped provide 90,000 meals to thousands of families, the vast majority of which are not in its core programing.

Softball field used by Little Leagues and college teams, as well as YBA participants

Nick Sussman, Senior Director, Academy Programs, and Janay Morant, Associate, Volunteerism and Alumni Engagement coordinated a tour of the Academy with Charlie Sperduto for Section 222 and me when we dropped off the swag obtained with your points. Adorning the walls of the academy is beautiful, donated art of baseball players the scholar athletes can relate to, and inspiring poetry by the scholar athletes. Classroom walls include a “mousetrap” meticulously made from taped, half-cut toilet paper rolls and trial and error to get the angles, friction, and momentum just right for a ping-pong ball to traverse back and forth along its way to a bucket at the base of the wall.

We learned there are now 26 academy graduates who are current NCAA athletes, as well as numerous other YBA graduates continuing their education and contributing to their communities. In addition, 12 young women and men currently attending the Academy are on the Scholar Athlete Council, which provides valuable input regarding the operation of the Youth Baseball Academy.  

YBA main hallway — bulletin boards display student poetry and photos of the Scholar Athlete Council

Their contributions and insights reminded me of a memorable experience at a PLAY baseball practice where I ran the obstacle course rotation, along with another volunteer coach. We had some standard orange cones, low/flat half-sphere cones, some soft squishy baseballs, a baseball glove, and, of course, a standard hockey net goal. However, we didn’t have time to get the instructions for the rotation. Simultaneously, the other coach and I decided to go with the flow and put the girls and boys in charge. They rose to the challenge and opportunity of course, which made the event all the more productive and useful.  

We had each group create their own unique obstacle course. Their script included jumping over cones, a double-cone jump, running around a cone a few times, knocking over a cone with their foot, hand, and head, crab walking, running/jumping over a cone, throwing a baseball into the hockey goal, and throwing a ball off the ground-level half-sphere cone into the goal. And then, where time allowed, groups designed a completely new course.

During one of the iterations, a young girl told me she and her brother have created similar obstacle courses at their house using sofa cushions and other items. So cool!

Midstream, some added their own wrinkle: both hands behind her back; another completed her cycle with a flourishing cartwheel; and another did a handstand walk. I told him this could be his touchdown dance, where he pops up with both hands in the air with the touchdown signal. He liked this a lot, whereupon I became the referee (several times), and after his dance yelled: “Touchdown!”

Great creativity. Great fun. If they build it, they will come. And the real winners are the adults who get to see our creative and motivated scholar athletes in action.

The Youth Baseball Academy relies on citizen fans. Volunteer opportunities include baseball and softball coaches, tutors, and mentors. If anyone is interested in participating, Mentoring nights are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. You can volunteer here, and donate here. 

And do note that Nationals Philanthropies is a 501(c)(3) organization, so contributions are tax-deductible. For those of us who are age 70½, or above, 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. You’re making a real difference.

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