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Roberto Clemente League

Revitalizing the Roberto Clemente League in Cleveland, Ohio with quality baseball. Impact will be for 288 Cleveland Youth.

Leader

Darien Murdock

Location

3690 Seymour Ave Cleveland, OH 44111

About the project

The Roberto Clemente League was in existence from 1993 to 2012. The league served as a catalyst for youth growing up in Cleveland with the love for baseball and for families to find like-minded people to help comfort the migration to a new home. After the years the league closed its doors serving anywhere from 200- 250 kids per season. We are all little league champs that were once a part of the then-existing Roberto Clemente League. Now adults with many different backgrounds, skills, and professions we are all honored to pour love into other youth that might need other positive adults in their life. 

We have gathered to honor Roberto Clemente by updating and revitalizing the Roberto Clemente park in the Clark/ Fulton community that has been abandoned by the community and the City. Together we have gathered, planned, and fundraise the upgrade of the park with new benches, painting, and planning activities to bring awareness to the park.

With the new uplift that the park received we are looking forward to restarting the league for 288 youth in the community. Our plan is to engage with the families to build a quality baseball league that can help built togetherness, a safe space and the love for baseball again. The teams will be names after Roberto Clemente teams that he got to play in, we will be needing new and used equipment. The ages of the players will be from 5–16-year-olds. We hope that this will bring more recognition to the park, honor Roberto Clemente and help us fund more projects around the park like lighting, turf and a score board. We are also looking forward toad to having game days at the same day as a Framers Market at the park to create a family experience and create a space for circular economy to also happen.

The Steps

  1. We will be promoting the league, sign up for experienced baseball coaches and recruiting for player sign up.
  2. Assign teams, purchase insurance, equipment, and uniforms. 
  3. Create schedule for practices and game days. 
  4. Create a celebration of the league starting game week for handing out uniforms and team pictures.
  5. We plan to have no fees for families as this can be a barrier. 
  6. Baseball Season will be from May for practices, June and July games, August end of year Celebration.

Why we‘re doing it

Our team motivation is being that young child that needed a place to feel connected to others and community. Finding something to help them feel needed or wanted. We were all once a part of the Roberto Clemente League growing up. Our passion is needing a space for our own children to connect to others form our culture and others to find one common subject baseball. During covid many things changed even to the since of community. We often want to forget the past but sometimes its needed to go back to things that works and help us cope with the many changes that we all have experienced. 

We will be solving a social and economic and an environmental issue with the new Roberto Clement Park. Social because we are intentionally creating something for children and their family to feel connected. We will be hosting game days during a Cleveland Fresh Farmers Market to add to the environment. They will be having fresh produce vendors, music, food demos, and even young entrepreneurs. 

Economic because leagues have a fee attached. Often times this can be a barrier for many families that have multiple children. We would also be adding to the economy with the vendors at the market. The farmers market will have extra incentives for families purchasing food for the families there like snap/ebt. 

Enviromental because it will get people outside to use the space more than once was abandoned. The park will be cared for by the community more now seeing the amazing change done by community. This has created a "want" for being at the park a place to be and connect with others. 

$12,500.00 / $12,500.00