The Trinity College baseball team played host to dozens of kids and coaches from the Hartford Little League on Saturday. Helping the younger players improve their ball-playing skills was only part of reaching a much bigger goal.
"They're ready for spring right now," said Bryan Adamski, Trinity College Head Baseball Coach. Adamski is one of the organizers of the Hartford chapter of the RBI program. Here, 'RBI' stands for 'Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities'. "Our guys are eager to give back to the game that's given them so much," he said.
The Trinity coaches and players were all helping to improve the baseball skills of local kids.
"I was like 'woo'. It was amazing," said RBI program participant Adam Renca. Renca, 11, was learning a lot about reaching goals from these more seasoned athletes. "How they got here and how they worked hard to get here," he said.
The RBI program gives kids from under-served communities chances to play baseball - and softball - while also encouraging academic success.
"They're full of energy," said Sam Jordan, a senior on the Trinity College baseball team. "They're good listeners and they work hard so it's good," he said.
"It's very nice they are even letting us practice here," said Rafael Roldan, a program participant. "They're teaching us a lot of stuff we never knew."
RBI programs like the one in Hartford have been started in more than 200 cities worldwide, providing more than 260,000 boys and girls the opportunity to play baseball and softball each year.
"I really respect that they're trying to help us learn and giving us techniques and tips to become better baseball players," said RBI Program Participant Christopher Burgos.
To learn more about Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), click here.
