Sport United States Project #4458

Cal Ripken, Jr.: Send 75 Deserving Kids to Camp!

by Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation

Project Report | Apr 21, 2011
A new field for this year’s campers

By Janice Chan | Foundation and Grant Writer

Cal, Sr.’s Yard

For the kids in our Badges for Baseball program, summer camp seems like a faraway dream that just isn’t coming fast enough. This year, we’ll have a new surprise in store for them!

When we originally built Cal, Sr.’s Yard, our youth-sized replica of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, we built it with a natural grass field and dirt infield. Now, don’t get us wrong—these fields look amazing to kids used to playing in parking lots and small gymnasiums. However, in our efforts to be good stewards of the resources we’ve been given (whether it’s your donations or the environment), we recently installed synthetic turf at Cal, Sr.’s Yard.

Construction started on February 7th and—two snowstorms, a few days of nonstop rain, high winds, and 13 mislabeled rolls of turf later—Cal, Sr.’s Yard was open by March 10th. Thank you to the Facilities team at Ripken Academy and Ripken Design for persevering to make this happen!

The new synthetic field offers a few distinct advantages over the previous grass surface and infield dirt surface. It will take far less labor to turn over from game to game and will reduce the amount of chemicals and fertilizer used at the complex. It also makes rain-outs much less likely. After the 3” of rain in that Aberdeen received in early March, the field drained and was playable within an hour. That same amount of rain would have previously canceled a whole weekend of games. It also looks great!

The field features AstroTurf’s top-of-the-line Gameday Grass 3DX—the same product that is being used in new MLB Stadium installations. This surface is designed to look, feel and play like natural grass, providing our kids with a professional playing experience not available on youth fields anywhere else in the country!

Thanks to Dan Taylor and Steve Fairbaugh for contributing to this story!

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Jan 18, 2011
Meet some of our 2010 campers!

By Janice Chan | Donor Relations Coordinator

Some of the children who attended our 2010 summer camps were asked to send in essays about themselves and what they learned from our camp. Here are some of those responses:

Daniel – 12 – Virginia

Hello, my name is Daniel and I am a 12 year old in the 7^th grade. My favorite subject in school is civics, which happens to be taught by my favorite teacher. My two favorite sports are baseball and basketball. I really enjoyed participating in the Badges for Baseball program and attending the camp this summer.

I had never really thought about my friends being my teammates in life before, but I like the concept. When I think about what makes a great friend, I think about characteristics such as trustworthiness, good attitude, kindness and someone that accepts me for who I am no matter how good I am at something. The Boys & Girls Club and programs like the Badges for Baseball program allow me to develop these skills. They teach me how to become a better role model and leader amongst my peers.

I plan to attend a college or university after I graduate from High School to further my education. My dream would be to attend Virginia Tech and study engineering. I know that I have to set goals and work hard to achieve these goals to reach my full potential and make these dreams come true and if I set my mind to it, “I can do anything!”

Kennedi – 10 – North Carolina

My name is Kennedi and I am in the 6^th grade. This is my second year being in the Boys & Girls Club. I love being a part of the club. I learn many new things everyday, such as teamwork and leadership. My first lesson I learned was on leadership in teamwork. One of the girls at camp lost her personal game. I and everyone else stopped to help her find the game. That showed a lot a lot of leadership and they all were very helpful.

The next example of leadership l learned was when my friend lost her wallet and one person saw it fall but did not pick it up. One of the teachers saw what happened and said that was not nice. So my teacher was showing leadership when she took the time to teach the person what she should have done. I always wanted to be a professional cheerleader, teacher or lawyer. When I watched the movie Pearl Harbor it made me want to go into the Air Force! In conclusion, I had a great time at camp!

Donald – 13 – Mississippi

Hello, my name is Donald, I’m thirteen years old and in the 7^th grade. I am a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs and I love to play baseball, football and basketball.

I learned not to laugh at someone but laugh with them. When you are on a team you should encourage your teammates that they can do it even when they don’t think they can. I also learned to have good sportsmanship when you win or lose a game, and tell your teammates Good Job! And Good Game!

I want to teach children how to respect each other and listen to each other. I plan to graduate from High School and attend College. I would hope someday to play professional baseball, basketball or football. I want to stay in school and stay out of trouble so I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to do. I study hard so I can get good grades and move on to college!

Stylz – 11 – Virginia

My name is Stylz and I am 11 years old. I like all types of sports and I like to have lots of fun. But, I can also be serious when its time to be! This summer I participated in the Cal Ripken Camp and learned a lot about myself as well as others. We were taught a lot of good things during the camp and I was even awarded the Camper of the Week award!

I like to think of myself as a leader. My leadership skills are good. When I am home, my friends look to me for answers. If they cannot get along or disagree about something, I try to help solve the problem. It is easy to be a leader, because if you just be honest with people, they will listen. My goal in life is to attend Ohio State on a full athletic scholarship. After I graduate, I would like to play in the NBA.

Coming to the Cal Ripken Camp, I have met friends from all over the country. I also learned a lot of good life lessons. Hopefully, in the future I can continue to attend and enjoy the camp!

Jordan – 13 – Mississippi

My name is Jordan and I am now 13 years old. I am currently in the 8^th grade and participate in football, basketball and baseball. I am also a member of the percussion section in the school band, and I am a peer counselor. I am active in the Youth Department at my chuch.

Since I have come home from camp, I was asked to speak at my local Rotary Club. My baseball coach took me to the country club where I gave my speech. I spoke to a crowd of 32 people about my summer experience and how much I respected my coach and teammates in order to get as far as I am now. I told them about how coach impacted me and changed my thoughts about baseball at the age of six. Through his hard work and dedication to helping me, I was given the opportunity to attend the Cal Ripken Camp this summer. After returning from camp, I was asked to work with 25 six to eight year old summer campers and teach them what I had learned.

Overall, it was a great and exciting camp. Not only did I learn a lot, but I also had fun making a lot of new friends that I still talk to. During my week there, I won the Most Outstanding Camper of the Day award! I even got a trophy. I thank the Boys & Girls Club for giving me the opportunity to attend the baseball camp and thank the Cal Ripken Camp for helping me to learn.

Brent – 13 - North Carolina

Hello Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation. This is Brent. I had so much fun at the overnight camp that I wanted to let you know how things were going for me since camp. Well, let’s see. As you know, I am 13 and am in 7^th grade.

The one thing I learned at camp that has stayed with me was leadership. I took on a heavy leadership role with my team, “Team Dynamite”. I encouraged the team to come up with our fight song, “when I say dyno, you say mite!” Now I am not nervous about being in leadership many times. During the last part of our baseball season, I found myself encouraging my teammates. We were down in the championship and I kept trying to pump us up so we would keep trying. We made a lot of errors that cost us the game, but, we lost as a team. Before the camp, I wouldn’t have done things like this, but now it comes naturally.

It’s no secret I would love to play professional baseball, maybe even in the Major Leagues. I have learned that no matter what I end up doing, it will all start with me being a hard worker and setting a goal. My mom says the success is not in finishing, but having taking the opportunity to try. Thanks for reading my essay and I hope to visit the camp again. Good bye and good luck to The Foundation!

Loretta – 13 – Wisconsin

My name is Loretta and I am 13 years old. I love to play sports like baseball, basketball, track, cross country, wrestling and volleyball. I have 2 sisters and 3 brothers. I have a 4.0 grade point average and love math science social studies and art.

I was a good leader at home when my little brother and sister were fighting. I spoke in a calm voice as I explained to them that fighting was not good. I knew that speaking calmly would calm them down. I also told them that someday mom and aunty would not be with us and that we only had each other. I try to teach my siblings the same leadership skills that I have learned from camp and throughout my life.

My goals for the future are to finish high school and graduate from college with a degree. I want to be a doctor or a physical therapist and come back on the reservation to work at our clinic. I am going to work very hard at that dream to make it come true.

I would always like to say thank you for the opportunity to attend your camp. I learned a lot of useful things that are helping me be successful in my own life from day to day.

Daniel – 10 – Wisconsin

My name is Daniel and I am 10 years old. I have two sisters and one brother. I like baseball, football, basketball and golf.

At school there was a kid that got left out a lot; he likes football, so at recess I asked him if he wanted to play football. I like motivating kids. I like encouraging other kids to do better, and give them confidence. I want to be a professional baseball player. To do that, I have to get good grades and get a college degree. I also need to work hard at baseball to be the best player I can be.

In conclusion, I had a good experience at the Cal Ripken Camp. I learned a lot of things there and met a lot of kids from all different states. I loved the Cal Ripken Camp!

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Nov 1, 2010
A thank you letter from one of our camp chaperones

By Janice Chan | Donor Relations Coordinator

My name is Dennis Hoskins, Unit Manager of the Boys & Girls Club of Northwest MS-Batesville Unit. I have eleven years of service with our organization and have seen many struggles. I’m so thankful to the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation for taking on the challenge and commitment of reaching out to youth all across the nation to assist in building a better life for all. The experience Donald, Jordan and Tyler received in Aberdeen, Maryland, cannot be put into words. The excitement of being selected by the staff and executive director was by far joyous. Most of all the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation made it possible for us to be a part of the camp and [it] was a once in a lifetime pleasure. None of the three campers had ever traveled by air and just to see the excitement in their eyes was rewarding for me. As the week progressed, I saw Donald, Jordan and Tyler develop into young men willing to accept responsibilities and eager to learn. They soon learned how to become a better participant/leader. One of the challenges that I see our youth face day to day in our community is not having enough positive role models reaching out. Boys & Girls Club of Northwest MS is that “Positive Place” for our youth and the Cal Ripken Foundation has helped us to improve our objectives by learning life lessons at camp. I have seen positive changes in all three campers. Jordan, Donald and Tyler have returned from camp and [are] now taking on leadership roles in the club and teaching some of the activities that they learned at camp; they have become spokespersons for the club and [show a] willingness to teach other peers some of the things they learned the Ripken way.

Thanks again, for affording us the opportunity of attending a wonderful camp experience.

Dennis Hoskins
Unit Manager
Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest MS
Batesville Unit

Thank you for supporting this project and making it possible for kids like Jordan, Donald, and Tyler to grow, learn, and play at summer camp!

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