The Garden City Long Island RBI Team is being formed for children ages 6 years old for the 2010 summer baseball. The new team is part of the Major League Baseball’s Reviving Baseball In Inner Cities (RBI) presented by KPMG program, which was introduced in 1989 and is an international youth development initiative. The new team is designed to create new playing opportunities for children in Garden City to play on the same teams with youth from underserved communities.
The Garden City Bombers Long Island RBI program currently has baseball teams, ages 7 through 16, with teams made up of half Garden City residents and half players from underserved communities. To qualify, players must be (a) no older than 6 years old as of May 1, 2010, (b) be above average baseball players, (c) wish to play baseball on a diverse team with players of many backgrounds, and (d), be crazy about baseball.
The Long Island RBI program teaches children to play first class baseball, to build bridges between surrounding communities, and other life lessons. This is the only open enrollment for the team, as there is very limited space on Garden City Bombers teams, and the 7- and 8-year-old teams are completely full.
The new team will practice one to two times per week in July and August, and possibly play a few games. In January, the team will resume its workouts indoors, and the roster will eventually be complemented with players from surrounding communities such as Hempstead and Roosevelt, in preparation for a full warm weather season next year. Garden City Bombers players currently come from every public school in Garden City, as well as St. Anne’s and St. Joseph’s. Older Bombers teams have represented the United States internationally, our younger team played in the tee ball game that was part of the MLB All Star Game festivities in 2008, and this July, 7- and 8-year-old teams will be part of the Mets pre-game ceremony on CitiField on July 9.
For more information, contact GCBombers@aol.com, call 637-8644, or visit http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/ community/rbi.jsp
RBI presented by KPMG is designed to increase participation and interest in baseball and softball, encourage academic participation and achievement and teach the value of teamwork. With the worldwide launch of playing divisions in Jr. RBI presented by KPMG and combined with RBI presented by KPMG (13- to 18-year-old playing divisions), there are nearly 300 leagues and 175,000 participants projected for 2010. Last year, 16 American cities served as Jr. RBI Pilot Cities and provided feedback on playing rules, field dimensions, and other participation trends. The Jr. RBI divisions will serve as feeders to current RBI 13-18 baseball and softball programs.
