On Saturday, June 11, the Pittsburgh Pirates Hosted Kids for a Free Baseball Clinic as part of the MLB PLAYBALL Initiative
The baseball players taking the field at PNC Park early last Saturday morning may have been a little shorter and younger than the ones who did so that evening, but they all shared one thing in common – a love of baseball.
The Pittsburgh Pirates hosted over 100 kids ages 5 – 12 for the PLAYBALL program, which is an initiative coordinated through Major League Baseball and US
A Baseball to encourage youth participation in baseball activities. The kids, who were split into groups of 5 – 9 year olds and 10 – 12 year olds, were hosted in the park in two sessions, the second of which ended just after 11 a.m.
During each of the sessions, the kids were broken down into smaller groups that visited several stations throughout the field, bullpen and home dugout at PNC to work on skills including fielding, hitting, pitching and catching fly balls. Led through the stations by members of the Pirates’ Buccos Brigade, the kids and learned fundamentals from Pirates front office folks, USA Baseball coaches, Pirates Alums Grant Jackson and Omar Moreno and reliever Jared Hughes.
“He told me I had a great knuckleball,” said 12 year-old participant Lachlan Frank-Collins of Hughes’ discussions with the kids while working on pitching skills in the bullpen. “He was really nice, but he also told us stuff to do to improve.”
Parents were encouraged to sign their children up for the event through the Pirates website and announcements on social media. Due to the hands-on nature of the event, there were a limited number of spots available for participants. The event was originally scheduled to take place at PNC Park on Saturday, May 21, but was cancelled due to inclement weather.
At registration, participants received an official PLAYBALL Pirates t-shirt, a voucher for two grandstand tickets to select future Pirates games, a BOGO voucher for the Carnegie Science Center and a Dick’s Sporting Goods Scorecard. The Pirates had plenty of cold water available for kids throughout the event (and their parents who were invited to watch from the right field seats) and upon the conclusion of the event, provided kids with a sack lunch courtesy of Chick-Fil-A. All participants also received a PLAYBALL wiffle ball and bat set.
PLAYBALL was launched in June 2015 by MLB and USA Baseball as a way to encourage more participation in the game of baseball. “The new program will highlight the many ways baseball can be played, including outside of the traditionally-organized baseball leagues and tournaments, ranging from playing catch, stickball and Wiffle ball to participating in skills competitions like ‘Pitch, Hit & Run’,” said a release from MLB at the time of launch. “The initiative also will provide players, parents and coaches with the information and resources to help with proper play and instruction.”
Learn more about upcoming PLAYBALL initiatives, events and even get tips for playing and resources for getting your kids involved in baseball at playball.org
View the Pirates’ photo gallery of the event.
(DISCLAIMER: the child quoted in this article is the son of PBD staff writer Joy Frank-Collins)
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