PHOENIX — The Balsz School District has a lot to celebrate on and off the field!
Saturday, on what the District is calling "Promise Field" just south of Brunson Lee Elementary School near 48th Street and McDowell Road, the district celebrated bringing back Little League baseball to the community earlier this year.
District Superintendent Dr. George Barnes tells ABC15 it's the first time this community has had Little League baseball in 10 years.
"It's great to see laughter on a Saturday morning," says Dr. Barnes, who spearheaded the mission to see the sport return to his district.
Dr. Barnes says the idea hit home for him when he went to visit his mother in rural Indiana. While he was there, he heard cheers and laughter coming from a nearby community soccer game and realized that's exactly what he wanted to see in his district.
"We need to bring that level of community love back to Balsz. I heard generations ago what Balsz used to be, what East Phoenix used to be, and I knew I had to work with some fine folks to make it happen!"
This first season back, 40 kids got to take part - and the best part is, they did it completely free of charge.
Dr. Barnes says thanks to the Balsz Community Education Foundation and nonprofits like The Home2First Foundation and Fulfillment in Training (FIT), they were able to form a partnership and make it happen.
"The first goal was to teach the fundamentals of baseball," explains Paul Penney with the Home2First Foundation. "They really didn't know where to run, where to hit, how to throw. The second goal was to teach them some of the intangibles that come out of baseball, like resiliency, hard work, and teamwork, and the third goal was just to have fun!"
"We saw a need in this area, and we really wanted to make a program that was largely sought out in this area," explains Jabari Overstreet with FIT.
Balsz says the program will be back in the Fall and is hoping to allow even more kids to play.
