ROXBURY, Mass. — Sports can be a powerful force in a young person’s life, teaching teamwork, building self-esteem, and showing how hard work pays off.
All of that is more important than ever as teenagers continue to deal with serious issues: mental health challenges left over from COVID; violence; and the influence of toxic social media.
A local nonprofit called The Base is hitting a homerun when it comes to helping young people navigate these complicate times.
A love of baseball brings more than 900 young people between the ages of 6-19 to The Base’s facility in Roxbury, not far from Mass and Cass.
“It’s fun, really fun, great,” said Sebastian Gutierrez, a teenager from Dorchester. “You get to meet new people, new faces, different people from different cultures and backgrounds.”
Hours spent on drills means less time being bored – or worse.
“I think sports is good because it gets you out of trouble,” said Gutierrez. “We’re in a neighborhood where bad things can happen, and I think this program and this sport can get you out of that.”
There are a lot of big league dreams at The Base every day.
Leugim Mello from the South End said, “I would love to play in college, maybe go pro one day.”
Reaching goals like those are based on more than just talent.
Youth sports in general have become specialized and expensive.
Parents who can pay for club teams and college showcases give their kids an advantage.
“This program is very transformative for a lot of our participants,” said Steph Lewis, President and CEO of The Base.
That’s because The Base is free for everyone, which Lewis says levels the playing field.
“Those intangibles with the lessons you learn in sports, they’re so transferable and they apply to everything,” Lewis said.
The Base wants to develop mental toughness, teach teamwork, and provide exposure to educational and work opportunities.
“We are a free program, but nothing is given,” explained Lewis. “So, in order to be able to participate, we do ask you to participate as part of our college access programs. We do ask you to participate in our health and wellness initiatives. We do ask you to participate in our career development program.”
Alberto Taveras of Dorchester said, “You learn how to get financially stable, get into a career, colleges, different things like that.”
He says The Base is already changing his life.
“It changed me mentally because when I was younger, I was very lazy, now I’m just hard working. It’s a great place to be at,” Taveras said.
Lewis loves that so many alums come back to coach in the program.
Luis Atiles now plays professionally for the Brockton Knockouts. He gives a lot of credit for his success to The Base.
“Being able to put me on college tours at an early age and stuff like that definitely helped me out a lot and giving me a mind set of what I really wanted to be able to do at the time,” Atiles said.
Coming to these workouts as a teenager kept him on track. He wants the same for a new generation of young players.
“I just try to come back and help the younger kids which I consider my little brothers,” he said.
The Base just had an exciting development. They were able to purchase their building and an adjacent lot which will allow them to continue expanding their services.
In recent years, they’ve added a basketball and a softball program.
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