Within the last several years, specific sports have been attached to certain ethnic groups. Usually when African-Americans are mentioned they tend to be associated with either football or basketball. The number of African-Americans playing baseball at high ranks is decreasing.
Although Major League Baseball (MLB) scored an “A” for its racial hiring practices, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, the number of minorities actually playing on the field is decreasing says Timothy Kimbrough, the president of the Douglass Little League, who has been playing baseball since his early years.
“They (young African-Americans) really don’t have the opportunity like Caucasians do because they don’t put as much money into the inner city programs. You used to get a lot of money to help inner city programming, but we don’t get that support that other leagues get in the townships,” Kimbrough said.
The Douglass Little League has a commitment to diversity and many minorities such as African-Americans and Hispanics make up a great amount of the teams.
He said that the children in townships are also more likely to go to college on a baseball scholarship, but you rarely see students from Indianapolis Public Schools doing the same.
Kimbrough said, “We have a lot of kids who have the aspiration to play baseball in college and earn those scholarships.”
The 2012 MLB season opened with 61.2 percent whites, 27.3 percent Latino and 8.8 percent African-American players on opening day rosters. While the percentage of African-Americans is an increase of 3 percent over the previous year, it is still the lowest percentage since 2007.
Tim Keown, senior writer for ESPN Magazine, said baseball has become incredibly expensive for children.
“Travel ball teams are $1,500 to travel for the summer. If I would have gone to my mom and asked her, ‘Mom, I need $1,500 to play on this travel team with the best players in the state,’ she would have looked at me (and said), ‘Hey, little league is $35 and it’s $50 for you and your brother. I think I know where you’ll be playing.’”
Unlike other major sports, baseball requires a hefty amount of pricey equipment including gloves, cleats, bats and helmets. The Douglass Little League offers programs for families that aren’t able to pay.
“We teach more than baseball. We do a lot of mentoring with many kids and help those who may not have a lot of money,” said Kimbrough. “Year-round basketball and football has hurt baseball in the inner cities. What we try to do is bring the pastime sport back to the inner city. The main goal is to have fun learning, teaching baseball and exposing different kids to different sports.”
The Douglass Little League is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and is dedicating its time to keeping youth off the streets in the city’s most violent areas.
The team will hold a special baseball tournament June 14 at 10 a.m. at Oscar Charleston Park.
For more information on Douglass Little League, call (317) 319-6862.
