Results tagged ‘ education ’

A Day with The Special Olympics of Miami-Dade County

On November 5th, my Ayudan Team, Pulse spent the day with Olympians at Gulliver High school. These inspiring athletes of The Special Olympics of Miami-Dade County where training for the states competition in Softball.

 

Our Ayudan team members hit the field aiding the students in practicing catching, pitching, fielding, and hitting.  Working with these athletes was an incredible and heartwarming experience. Their determination, skill and love for sports couldn’t be matched. Many of the Athletes were better at the game than our own front office staff!

 

The Marlins proudly support the Special Olympics. “The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities*, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.”

 

For more information please visit:

Special Olympics Miami Dade County

http://somdc.org/5/

Special Olympics Florida- Broward County

http://www.specialolympicsbroward.org/

Marlins RBI Road to the Big Leagues

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Earlier this month, the Baltimore Orioles made a free agent signing that probably won’t be front page news, but it certainly is headline worthy for us at Beyond the Ballpark.

George Barber was a participant in the Marlins Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program from 2005-2008 while attending Miami Central High School. While he was a standout football and baseball player, baseball was where his true passion lied. After graduating from high school in 2007, he took advantage of his last year of eligibility in RBI and played that summer. Barber had a tremendous season and would go on to lead the Marlins RBI Senior All Star team to the RBI World Series in Anaheim, and though the Marlins would not celebrate a championship that year, it did serve as a sign of things to come for George who made a lasting impression with his play in the tournament.

In the summer of 2010, Barber had finished his second year of JUCO baseball at Broward College where he walked on as an outfielder. With the MLB draft fast approaching, George remained active in the Marlins RBI program, serving as an assistant coach in the newly founded Jr. RBI division that serves kids 12 & under.

George’s desire to give back and help young ballplayers the way he himself had been helped was overwhelming. He participated in the Jr. RBI Classic in Anaheim as the first base coach for the Marlins team and ended up becoming so much more than that to those kids. The way they gravitated towards him and looked up to him was inspirational.

George was a soon-to-be professional baseball player and he was the type of person that they wanted to be. He was spent every second with them on the field, in the cafeteria, and in the dorms. For the kids, it was an experience that they would never forget. George would not only end up being drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the 43rd round, but also offered a scholarship to play baseball at the University of Auburn. Having excelled in the classroom, he put himself in a position where he could insist that the Angels agree to pay for school. Once they did that, he was ready to report to Rookie League in Tempe, Arizona.

This story is not without disappointment or adversity however. Just one year later the Angels would release Barber from his contract. It is at this point when you find out the type of player and, more importantly, the type of person that George Barber is. Barber returned to Miami where he attended Florida International University and studied nursing, while continuing to work out and attend open tryouts with big league clubs and independent league teams. Needing only to complete his clinicals in order to earn his nursing degree, he received a call from the Orioles. He was being offered a second chance.

Earlier this month, George Barber signed with the club and has been invited to Spring Training where he will look to achieve his boyhood dream of playing in the Major Leagues. His work ethic and desire have put him in a position to reach his goals, but whether he gets called up to the Bigs or not, he has proven to be a big leaguer in my book and someone that all our RBI participants will look up to.

(see video at 29:50 mark)
Hitting Home with RBI

Ms. Chaca’s Class at Doral Middle School

I had the absolute pleasure of speaking at Doral Middle School’s Career Day on May 15th. I was assigned to Ms. Chaca’s first period class. In preparation for the Career Day, I thought back to myself as a student during the many career days I attended… “Who is this lady? Why is it important for me to learn about what she does? What do I want to be when I grow up?” I tried really hard not to bore the students but to give them real life advise and it always helps to work for a fun organization, like the Marlins! The kids were wonderful and as an added treat I promised them tickets to an upcoming game… Below are two of the thank you’s I received… P.S. The best part of my position at the Marlins is receiving thank you’s from our fans!

Ms. Messing! I cannot tell you how much joy you inspired with your very kind gesture. My kids were over-the-top ELATED when they received their Marlins tickets.  One of my kids said, “She didn’t forget us!!!’  This means so much because many of these kids are used to having adults make promises they don’t necessarily keep.  You’ve made them feel special, important, and worthy and there are no words to thank you for that. Many Blessings and Have a Great Day!__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello I am a student at Doral Middle School. I was in the class of your first presentation. I asked you the question if you had an office. Well, I am here to tell how grateful am I for you being so generous to give our class a tickets. So in conclusion: Thanks for the tickets.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Joanne Messing, I was one of the lucky students that got to have you for our career day! I was in Ms. Chaca’s first period today school ended and summer started. At the game today i had a fantastic time at the game today I even bought a orange Miami marlins hat! So thank you for giving our class a amazing opportunity to go to a marlins game for free!

| back to blog home |
Theme: MLB “pro” | Get a free blog at WordPress.com
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 72,218 other followers