Major League Baseball (MLB), the Houston Astros, and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD) last week broke ground on the Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park in a special ceremony. MLB Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Jimmie Lee Solomon, Houston Astros President of Business Operations Pam Gardner and current and former Astros players were on-hand with State Representative Sylvester Turner, Houston Parks and Recreation Department Director Joe Turner and other local dignitaries to inaugurate the future site of the second MLB Urban Youth Academy, which will provide year-round free baseball and softball instruction to local youth ages 7-17.
After the groundbreaking ceremony, which was emceed by Houston Astros Hall of Fame Broadcaster Milo Hamilton, MLB hosted 250 children from the Harris Academy and the local Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) Program presented by KPMG in a youth-oriented event called Wanna Play?, providing various baseball activities such as batting and pitching cages, baserunning contests, wiffle ball games and demonstrations by Houston Astros players Michael Bourn, LaTroy Hawkins and Wesley Wright and Astros Manager Dave Clark.
Located in north Houston, the Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park will feature a show field complete with scoreboard; permanent seating for 500 fans, with space for an additional 1,800 fans; dugouts and lights; one auxiliary field; two little league/softball fields and batting cages; and 1,500 square feet of office space and other facilities.
Major League Baseball and the Houston Astros contributed $600,000 to the construction of the Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park, which equaled the contributions by both the City of Houston and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park will staff local high school, collegiate, current and former professional ballplayers to help run the different Major League-caliber training camps and clinics throughout the year. It will offer the free programs to a minimum of 2,500 youth.
Additional instructors, collegiate coaches, scouts, and certified athletic trainers will also work with young athletes at the Academy. The Academy will open its doors to all who want to participate from the Houston area with enrollment open year-round. In addition to baseball and softball instruction, boys and girls attending the Houston Astros MLB Urban Youth Academy at Sylvester Turner Park will be given the opportunity to participate in free seminars on umpiring, athletic field management, scouting and player development, sports and broadcast journalism, public relations and statistics, as well as athletic sports training.