Jan 7, 2009 9:38 pm US/Eastern
Kids Will Learn To 'Play Ball' For Free In Hialeah
HIALEAH (CBS4) ―
Major League Baseball and the Florida Marlins are teaming up with the City of Hialeah to create and build a MLB Urban Youth Baseball Academy.
"What a great day in the City of Hialeah, what a great day in Miami-Dade County," boasted Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina in a press conference to announce the academy on Wednesday.
The state of the art facility, which will be built near 84th Street and West 36th Avenue (near I-75), will provide free baseball and softball instruction along with play to children 8 through 18 years old. Staff members at the academy will include former major and minor league players, collegiate coaches and athletic trainers. The academy will be open to all children and families in South Florida.
Major League Baseball is willing to foot the bill to build the academy for both girls and boys, while the city will provide the land and operate it.
Once completed the $3 million facility will feature not only a main field with a lighted scoreboard, but also two auxiliary fields, four softball fields which can also be used for Little League and batting cages. The facility's clubhouse will house weight training and locker rooms.
The news has kids and parents excited.
"It's good its a great idea for the kids, so it keeps them out of trouble and out of the streets, and so they can focus on something good in the future," said Dimarys Martinez.
In the first year of operation, academy officials expect more than 25 hundred of the city's youth to take advantage of their free programs.
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