MLB, the MLBPA, Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, Dallas-area non-profit organization Mercy Street and Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw, a Dallas native, today announced formal plans to build a new Urban Youth Academy in North Texas, MLB’s ninth such facility. Like the eight others, the planned 17-acre facility in West Dallas will provide a variety of year-round youth opportunities and include five fields, one of which will be named for Kershaw, and an indoor sports and learning complex. Opening for the Rangers MLB Urban Youth Academy will be phased beginning next year.
Costs for the project are pegged in the low-to-mid seven figure range, and are being supported in part by a joint $1M grant from MLB and the players' union, a matching $1M from the Rangers Baseball Foundation, and $500,000 from Kershaw. Mercy Street has an existing relationship with the Rangers, and has aided with the club’s local Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program. The complex was announced just prior to the start of quarterly MLB owners meetings in Dallas.
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| (l to r) Kershaw, Omar Minaya, Derek Holland, Rob Manfred, Ray Davis and Neil Leibman |
