Major League Baseball Youth Academies are a series of academies in American cities and one in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

that provides free year-round instruction in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

to the areas' youth. The academies are run as not-for-profit organizations by

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB).

History

The first Youth Academy opened in 2002 in

as the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy and High School. In 2006, the first Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

was opened in

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

, providing free baseball and softball instruction to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

youth, ages 8–17. Since then academies have opened in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

(2010),

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

(2012),

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

(2014).

Locations

Cincinnati, Ohio

Located nine miles away from the

Great American Ball Park Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds, and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium), the Reds' fo ...

is the P&G

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Urban Youth Academy. The $5.5 million complex includes four outdoor baseball and softball fields and a 33,000-square-foot indoor facility that holds batting cages, pitching tunnels and another field. It provides free year-round instruction in baseball and softball to the area's youth and is affiliated with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

Major League Baseball team.

Compton, California

The first academy located in the mainland United States was the Compton Academy in

. Encompassing on the campus of

Compton Community College Compton College is a public community college in Compton, California. From 2006, when it lost its regional accreditation, to 2017, when it regained that accreditation, it operated as a part of El Camino College. Before and after the partnership ...

, the MLB Urban Youth Baseball Academy features

state-of-the-art The state of the art (SOTA or SotA, sometimes cutting edge, leading edge, or bleeding edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contex ...

facilities including a show field; complete with

scoreboard A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score (sport), score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards i ...

, a

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

that seats nearly 200 fans,

dugouts Dugout may refer to: * Dugout (shelter), an underground shelter * Dugout (boat), a logboat * Dugout (smoking), a marijuana container Sports * In bat-and-ball sports, a dugout is one of two areas where players of the home or opposing teams sit whe ...

and lights; as well as an auxiliary field;

field; youth field; and a clubhouse consisting of a

weight room Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, is exercise designed to improve physical strength. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate techniques such as bodyweight exercises (e ...

locker room A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as Changing room, locker rooms, workplaces, schools, transport hubs and the like ...

, and other training facilities. The complex also features batting cages and pitching mounds. The academy operates on a year-round basis under the leadership of former Anaheim Angel

Darrell Miller Darrell Keith Miller Sr. (born February 26, 1958) is an American former professional baseball player. While with the California Angels, he was a catcher and outfielder, playing from 1984 to 1988. He is also a Catholic deacon, the first African Am ...

. An after-school program, week-long clinics accommodating approximately 200 youth per day is held, as well as month-long clinics. Over the course of the first year of operation, the academy expects to offer the free program to a minimum of 2,500 youth. Players who have attended the Academy include

Anthony Gose Anthony Robert Gose (; born August 10, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher and outfielder in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, ...

Khris Davis Khristopher Adrian Davis (born December 21, 1987), nicknamed “Khrush”, is an American former professional baseball left fielder and designated hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics and ...

Trayvon Robinson Trayvon Andrew Dwayne Robinson (born September 1, 1987) is an American former professional baseball left fielder and current hitting coach for the Lancaster Stormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has previously played in Ma ...

Aaron Hicks Aaron Michael Hicks (born October 2, 1989) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and Los Angeles ...

Efren Navarro Efren or Efrén is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Efrén Echeverría (born 1932), musician guitarist, composer, and compiler from Paraguay *Efrén Pérez Rivera (born 1929), former college professor and noted Puerto Rican envi ...

, J. P. Crawford, Dominic Smith,

Dillon Tate Dillon Michael Tate (born May 1, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles. Tate played college baseball at the Uni ...

, and Hunter Greene.

Houston, Texas

The

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Urban Youth Academy opened in 2010. It is located at Sylvester Turner Park on Houston’s north side. The main stadium at the academy has permanent seating for 500 fans, space for an additional 1,800 fans, dugouts and lights. There’s also one auxiliary field, two Little League/softball fields and 1,500 square feet of office space and other facilities.

New Orleans, Louisiana

The

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Urban Youth Academy opened in 2012 and is located at

Wesley Barrow Stadium Wesley Barrow Stadium is a 650-seat baseball and softball stadium located in the Pontchartrain Park section of New Orleans, Louisiana. Named in memory of Negro league baseball manager Wesley Barrow, a longtime prominent figure in the New Orleans ...

. It is a 650-seat

and

stadium located in the

Pontchartrain Park Pontchartrain Park is a historically registered New Orleans neighborhoods, neighborhood of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Gentilly, New Orleans, Gentilly District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City ...

section of

. The stadium includes a 200-square-foot climate-controlled press box, a public address system and LED scoreboard. The baseball field features professional-sized artificial turf with a clay pitcher's mound and two fenced bullpens. The facility also includes grass tee-ball fields, a three-lane outdoor batting practice cage and a two-lane indoor batting practice building. It also includes administration facilities and two 300-square-foot conference rooms. It provides free, year-round baseball and softball instruction and other educational services for youth from underserved and urban communities throughout southern Louisiana.

Puerto Rico

The first Urban Youth Academy opened in 2002 in

as the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy and High School.

Washington, D.C.

The Washington Nationals Youth Academy is located in

The academy is affiliated with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

Major League Baseball team and opened on March 4, 2014. The academy is located in

Fort Dupont Park Fort Dupont Park is a wooded park under the management of the National Park Service located in Washington, DC. The name of the park comes from the old Civil War earthwork fort that lies within the park. The fort was one of several designed to ...

and consists of three fields used for baseball and softball. The facility also has a two-story structure featuring offices, locker rooms, training areas, batting cages, concession space, classrooms and meeting rooms. The academy is the home of the

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located at Washington, D.C. The Georgetown's athletics department fields 24 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the Natio ...

and

Howard Bison The Howard Bison and Lady Bison are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Howard University, located in Washington, D.C. The Bison compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)'s and Division I Footba ...

softball teams as well as the D.C. Grays of the

Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League The Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League (CRSCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league located in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan areas. The CRSCBL is a member of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball ...

. It is also the home of several high school and lower division college baseball teams including

Marymount University Marymount University is a Private university, private Catholic university with its main campus in Arlington County, Virginia, United States. It was founded as Marymount College in 1950. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degre ...

Gonzaga College High School Gonzaga College High School is a private Catholic college-preparatory high school for boys in Washington, D.C. Founded by the Jesuits in 1821 as the Washington Seminary, Gonzaga is named in honor of Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint from the ...

, and

Anacostia High School Anacostia High School is a public high school in Anacostia, in the Southeast (Washington, D.C.), Southeast quadrant of the District of Columbia. History In August 2009, Friendship Public Charter School partnered with DC Public Schools to manage ...

Future academies

, additional academies were under development in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

;

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

;

Hialeah, Florida Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Da ...

(near Miami);

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

References

{{reflist

External links

MLB Urban Youth Academy
Major League Baseball Baseball in Cincinnati Compton, California Baseball in Houston Baseball in New Orleans Baseball in Puerto Rico Baseball in Washington, D.C. Youth baseball Sports academies

History

Locations

Cincinnati, Ohio

Compton, California

Houston, Texas

New Orleans, Louisiana

Puerto Rico

Washington, D.C.

Future academies

See also

References

External links