News & Events

 

By Laura Amato, Troy/The Record
Posted: 06/16/14

 

TROY >> A few months ago, the front office of the Tri-City ValleyCats had an idea. 

For one of the first time in the organization’s history, the ValleyCats would be playing a week earlier than normal, giving the team a chance it normally doesn’t have during the summer; interacting with kids while the school year is still going on. 

Out of that realization, an idea was born and this morning will see its implementation as the ‘Cats host 34 local elementary schools for a sellout crowd in the first-ever Education Day at Joe Bruno Stadium. 

First pitch against the Lowell Spinners is scheduled for 10 a.m. 

“We started brainstorming that and our staff really liked the concept and it fit in with a lot of the things we were already doing, like our anti-bullying program, some of the summer reading stuff,” ValleyCats assistant general manager Matt Callahan said. “Really from there, the first significant step was doing a ton of research. We did a lot of research on what other minor league teams and other organizations had done and how they had put this together. We reached out to schools we already had relationships with, to get some of their feedback from teachers and administrators and things like that. We kind of just kept building it from there.”

Between Callahan and Tri-City’s fan development/community relations manager Michelle Skinner, the ValleyCats contacted nearly every local elementary school in a 45-mile radius, not only inviting them to today’s game but bringing them into the actual planning process and helping to create a trip that would foster both a love of baseball and support the ideas of education and inclusion. Team sponsors like Regeneron, Transfinder and St. Peter’s Health Partners also assisted in underwriting a certain number of tickets to assist school districts in both Rensselaer and Schenectady County. 

Teachers were able to download a pre-game curriculum of sorts prior to today’s matchup and many local schools have already been working through the information to help bring together baseball with things like math, geography and the overall experience of seeing a professional game at a ballpark. 

“Michelle did a phenomenal job putting together a curriculum we’re proud of,” Callahan said. “We didn’t want to roll this out and not have the educational component in a place where we felt like it was beneficial or not have something that a teach could actually hand out in a classroom.”

“I know we’ve heard pockets of feedback, where some teachers are very excited about it. With the amount of requirements that the teachers have to meet, we wanted it to be something that they could pick and choose from. Basically we wanted to give them almost a tool kit that they can use at their discretion.”

But today’s game is more than just an out-of-the-classroom educational experience. 

The ValleyCats have worked to make this a complete day of baseball for the kids, many of whom are currently in second to fourth grade. In addition to the academic curriculum, kids will be able to meet with Tri-City players and manager Ed Romero who will host a pregame talk, highlighting the importance of accepting people’s differences and advancing the ‘Cats existing “Strike Out Bullying” program. 

“We do post-game autographs,” Callahan said. “So there’ll be a couple of players out that they’ll be able to interact with. Then we also have, hopefully, one of the players participate in one of the pregame activities, so he’ll be speaking. So we’re excited about that.”

The ‘Cats are hoping that today’s game is simply the first in an annual Education Day program and another footnote in an effort to be a part of the Capital District community. 

The underlying theme of Tri-City’s mission is to “Create fans for life,” and the ‘Cats are hoping that with today’s efforts, they’ll not only begin a new tradition but spark an interest in both baseball and education for a whole new generation of local kids. 

“In year one, we’ve talked all year and we felt like if we did the legwork in the first year and really built a program that we think can sustain itself, that we’d be able to do this as an annual event,” Callahan said. “I think when we started down this road, we were confident that it would be a successful event. But this has exceeded our expectation to be sure.”