Decatur Memorial Hospital and Decatur Park District Announce Joint Venture with St. Louis Cardinals Redbird Rookies Program

Children in Decatur who might not have had an opportunity to play baseball can look forward to learning about the game this summer. Decatur Memorial Hospital and the Decatur Park District have teamed up with the St. Louis Cardinals to present Redbird Rookies.

Redbird Rookies is a baseball league for boys and girls, age five to seven, who otherwise might not have had the chance to play. This special league, sponsored by Cardinals Care, provides kids with uniforms, gloves, bats, balls, and other equipment, as well as extensive off-field support in the areas of education, the arts, mentoring, and health. Cardinals Care is the team’s community foundation that cares for kids. Since 1997, Cardinals Care has cared for kids by building youth baseball fields, supporting youth baseball, and funding children’s organizations and youth agencies. More than $11.5 million has been distributed to help kids.

Decatur Memorial Hospital’s Sports Medicine Medical Director, Wendell W. Becton M.D., is a team physician for the St. Louis Cardinals. He and the DMH Athletic Trainers will provide the health component of the program through screenings, physicals, and health and nutrition information. Decatur Park District will help provide staff resources, as well as baseball diamonds in the local parks for use by the teams.

In 2004, Redbird Rookies was formed to allow kids to play baseball free of charge. Rawlings, a major contributor and supporter of Cardinals Care, donates and discounts most of the equipment and uniforms for any child who wants to play in Redbird Rookies. In addition, Cardinals Care provides training so that coaches and organizers can learn innovative coaching/character building techniques that are essential to the program. Parents also take part in workshops that teach the philosophy of the league so that there is support on every level.

Central to Redbird Rookies is instructional play. Keeping score and winning are secondary to the life lessons that can be learned as part of a team on the ball field. Redbird Rookies works to instill the values of teamwork, integrity, self-esteem and leadership in the “classroom” of a baseball setting.

Registration for boys and girls interested in learning how to play baseball the Redbird Rookies way will be held for the next several weeks. For more information, call Justin at the Decatur Indoor Sports Center at 429-3472.

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