Not just about baseball: KC's Urban Youth Academy gets bullish on softball
Not just for baseball, the Kansas City Urban Youth Academy celebrated World Softball Day recently by announcing the creation of a "Queens of the Diamond" softball tournament on Aug. 30.
Event organizers see the tournament as a means of supporting younger female athletes in the Kansas City area, as well as celebrating women in the Kansas City business community.
The academy, opened earlier this year in the 18th and Vine district with cooperation from the Royals and Major League Baseball, has received ample press for the work it does with youth baseball players.
This tournament, featuring 28 teams, will showcase the facility as one just as dedicated to softball in Kansas City's urban core.
“There's no softball within the urban core, and so we're put in a really unique position, because we have the opportunity to go ahead and start growing the game and just kind of build a program to sort of build it from ground up,” said Angel McGee, manager of communications and outreach at the academy.
Teams will be picked by the members of the academy's scout-team roster — the main committee of local women leaders helping to coordinate the event — giving girls ages 6 to 18 the chance to play on a team of 10. Each team will represent a local business sponsoring the event.
Each team will play three games, as well as a championship bracket, that day. Networking will also be available at lunchtime, giving players a chance to meet some of the women business owners and leaders in the Kansas City area.
“We are honored that Kansas City’s women leaders have chosen to come together to ensure lasting positive change for the girls in our community,” said Darwin Pennye, executive director of the academy. “We believe in the power of baseball and softball. Instilling a love for this sport and utilizing it to promote positive character development, academic enrichment, and improved health are the primary goals of the academy.”
Additionally, Kansas City Royals' Alex Gordon and his wife, Jamie, have agreed to be honorary chairs for the event.
The academy also partners with UMKC softball, which hosts clinics after every home game. Since its inception, the number of girls attending the program has jumped from four to 32.
McGee said the academy is looking to get more middle school kids interested in trying and sticking with baseball and softball. According to McGee, many boys stray away from baseball when they hit middle school, and none of the Kansas City public school district middle schools offer softball programs.
McGee hopes the academy will be able to build a partnership alongside the Kansas City public school district to close that gap and introduce softball as an option in area middle schools.
“If we start with middle school, that will at least plant a seed in (girls),” McGee said. “To want them to continue to go on through high school and hopefully collegiality, which would be really awesome."
The academy offers educational facilities and programs, allowing kids to go on field trips and spend two hours learning not only about baseball and softball, but about leadership and entrepreneurship.
Exercises range from kids making their own baseball cards to participating in “speed interviewing” — think speed dating, but with 8-year-olds who are interviewing each other instead.
“Our main mission is not to pump out professional athletes, or even collegiate athletes — it's awesome, and I think it will give us a great pat on the back, but we're actually here to inspire and to empower them,” McGee said. “To find them themselves, to find their self confidence, their character.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 12:44 PM.