On Saturday, April 18th, several dozen area youth took the field at Duncan Park Stadium for a clinic sponsored by Major League Baseball (MLB), the Youth Sports Bureau (YSB), and Palmetto Baseball Prospects (PBP). Once again the sound of bats against balls and gloves hard-thumped by throws to first filled the air.

The clinic was one of many programs sponsored by MLB to increase the participation of youth—especially center city youth who might have limited opportunities to play developmental baseball compared to their more affluent peers—in baseball leagues, clinics, and tournaments located in parks and other public venues open to all students. The event was open to Upstate youth ages 13 and up without charge to the athletes.

“It’s hard sometimes,” said Nicky Dixon, the Commissioner of the Palmetto Baseball Association and PBP organizer, of the time and effort coaches and sponsors contribute to the event. “I’m involved with a lot of other things, but I want to do this to give back.”

Dixon himself was a player during his own youth. He took the field at Benedict College until he broke his hand, and even then he didn’t give up the game. He played Independent leagues baseball in the South and Southwest, and he is also currently the Commissioner of the regional Palmetto Baseball Association.

Another organizer for Saturday’s clinic was Kindu Jones, who has worked in Major League Baseball after two years with the National Lacrosse League. Jones’s work with professional baseball began with the World Baseball Classic and the Arizona Fall League and has since included a dozen years with MLB Baseball Development, where he is now Manager.

Jones told the Ilitch Companies News Hub that his job was to “evaluate, motivate and provide hope for the next generation of athletes. Teaching them how to fall in love with the process of honing their baseball skills and doing everything in their life with a ‘big league mindset’ might be almost as great of a day for us as it is an opportunity for them.”

Youth programs like those sponsored by MLB and the Palmetto Baseball Association serve youth by teaching them life skills beyond those they acquire on the diamond. They share the vision of Luther Norman, the Director of the Youth Sports Bureau here in Spartanburg, and his philosophy of providing underserved local youth a chance to become productive adults who will one day themselves give back to the communities they grew up in.