Inaugural HBCU World Series Starts May 24th, Aims to Diversify College Baseball

According to Yahoo! Sports, the first of what organizations intend to be an annual event will feature the North Carolina A&T Aggiesand Southern Jaguars at the Chicago White Sox Guaranteed Rate Field. It will join The Andre Dawson Classic as ways to promote HBCU schools, which are slowly watching their baseball programs fold.

Erwin Prentiss Hill, CEO of Black College Sports Group 360 (BCSG), told HBCU Sports he wants the event to “promote education opportunities to urban youth” who may not know of the schools or how to navigate the college admissions process.

 From HBCU Sports:

“Greatness comes from historically black colleges and universities. The bottom line is to get more urban youth back to our HBCU’s, so that talented young men and women can add to the legacy of our outstanding predominantly black universities.”

 

The Shadow League @ShadowLeague
 
 

With the decline in HBCU baseball, it's great to see that we'll have the inaugural HBCU World Series.https://shadowlg.co/2VFRfAY 

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1133781623701463040/uZlMk87D?format=jpg&name=800x419); background-size: cover;">

NC A&T, Southern University Will Face Off In Inaugural HBCU World Series

The first pitch will be thrown at 1 p.m., Saturday, May 24.

theshadowleague.com
 
See The Shadow League's other Tweets
 
 

 

 

Baseball’s decline in lower-income communities

The cost of playing sports can add up quickly for families. It’s especially difficult to have to pay for a glove, cleats, bats and even uniform costs, now that there are fewer programs supported through park or school programs.

Participating on a travel team is even costlier and can require more shuttling around from parents, who might already be working multiple jobs to get by. Little League is so high-stakes it’s must-see TV in August.

Billy Witz covered the lack of African-American players on HBCU rosters Monday for the New York Times and noted the decline of baseball through the eyes of Bethune-Cookman athletic director Lynn Thompson. Thompson said places where he played sandlot ball in the 1960s were paved over for basketball courts and parking lots.

Recently, however, the percentage of black players on Major League Baseball‘s opening-day rosters in 2018 was the highest in six years at 8.4 percent. Between 2012 and 2017, 20 percent of first-round draft picks were African-American. Those numbers are in part due to MLB’s focus on its Urban Youth Academies that started in Compton, California, in 2006 and its Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program, launched in 1989.

“It’s been a huge investment for us,” Renee Tirado, MLB’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, said last spring. “Obviously growing the game amongst our players is a priority, so that uptick has definitely been from a concerted effort.”

Perhaps a focus on HBCU baseball will bring those numbers even higher in the coming years.

 

Source: https://goodblacknews.org/

Votes: 0
E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of The Khaliseum to add comments!

Join The Khaliseum

The Shorty Roc NYC Show

You need to be a member of The Khaliseum to add comments!

Join The Khaliseum

Comments are closed.

Lakeia Bailey is now a member of The Khaliseum
Tuesday
King Shorty Roc posted a blog post
The Khaliseum: An All-in-One Platform Empowers Creators and Businesses

The Khaliseum is making waves in the entertainment industry, but its reach extends far beyond movie nights and catchy tunes. This innovative platform is transforming into a…
Mar 11
Christy Love-Lee and King Shorty Roc are now friends
Mar 11
Frank Lee and Christy Love-Lee joined The Khaliseum
Subscriber
Mar 4
Jovanni Alonna Rousseau is now a member of The Khaliseum
Mar 3
Lakeishia Holloway updated their profile photo
Feb 19
Lakeishia Holloway updated their profile photo
Feb 19
Mike, Tenisha Douglass and Lakeishia Holloway joined The Khaliseum
Feb 18
Shy. Jenkins and King Shorty Roc are now friends
Feb 16
PretttyP and King Shorty Roc are now friends
Feb 16
Cealia Castillo and King Shorty Roc are now friends
Feb 16
Ashley Robertson is now a member of The Khaliseum
Feb 15
Cealia Castillo is now a member of The Khaliseum
Feb 13
olivia scott is now a member of The Khaliseum
Feb 7
DeAndra Perryman is now a member of The Khaliseum
Feb 6
Shy. Jenkins is now a member of The Khaliseum
Jan 31
More…