KCK RBI gearing up for a big year in 2015
by Mary Rupert
A dream will come true next year for KCK RBI and its executive director, Cle Ross.
Ross said the renovation of the former 3&2 baseball field, 5325 Parallel Parkway, is now on track because of grants that have been awarded this year. Recently, a $186,000 incentive grant was awarded to the project by the Baseball Tomorrow Fund of Major League Baseball, Ross said. KCK RBI’s parent organization, Success Achieved in Future Environments (S.A.F.E.), will receive the grant.
Donations totaling $1.2 million this year mean that the big 3&2 field will be ready for use in May of 2015, and the smaller field at the site will be ready in May of 2016, Ross said.
“Once the ballpark is completed it’s going to change things tremendously,” Ross said. “Now we have a home field.”
He said he expected youth registration in KCK RBI to grow from 900 kids to close to 2,000 kids.
The Kansas City Royals making it to the World Series, by itself, will result in a renewed interest in baseball among the area’s youth, he believes.
“I believe there were a lot of kids that were previously not interested, and now their interest has been sparked,” Ross said. “Previously they were not excited, and now they are excited beyond word.”
Four members of KCK RBI were given tickets to the Royals wild card game, and the last game of the playoff series against the Angels, he said, through MasterCard through the MLB RBI program. Tickets were extremely expensive for people who went to these games, he added.
“It put some young men and young women into a position to see a game they never would have been able to see,” Ross said.
Ross noted that before the Royals went to the World Series, KCK RBI went to its RBI World Series, taking fifth in the nation, in August.
Ross makes sure the youth in KCK RBI know that some local baseball greats grew up playing on the 3&2 field in past years, and he hopes that will create a positive environment for them. Some of the past baseball greats who played at the Kansas City, Kan., 3&2 field included Ray Sadecki, Larry Drew, David Segui, Steve Renko, Neil Allen, Kevin Young and Damian Rolls.
RBI (Reviving Baseball in the Inner City) is a program supported by Major League Baseball, and the Royals have helped KCK RBI through grants and programs previously.
The youth baseball program received a check for $200,000 from the Royals at Kauffman Stadium before Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, Ross said. The Royals also will provide another $100,000, he added.
Also giving $200,000 each to the baseball field project were Freightquote and the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, he said.
The baseball field renovation fund drive is still about $600,000 short of its goal, which is why the smaller field renovation has been scheduled for 2016. Donations are still being accepted toward the project, he added.
For more information about the KCK RBI program, visit its website at www.kckrbi.org/.
