Help Them Play! Brooklyn Youth Baseball Team Needs Help To Get To World Series
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Brooklyn's rich baseball history has been renewed, in a generational sense, by a boys' team that's earned a coveted place in a national championship set for the end of the month in Illinois.
But as CBS2's Steve Langford reports, the price of success may be an obstacle for the team and parents.
The Bonnie Braves, a team of mostly 10-year-old boys, practiced Friday for their first World Series, which will take place in Rockford, Illinois, at the end of the month.
But these boys of summer face a serious challenge, one that has nothing to do with talent, hard work or heart.
"Money is a big question for us right now," coach Jose De La Rosa said.
It will cost a couple of thousand dollars for each family to send their young ballplayer to the series, money not everyone here in Flatbush has.
"Most of these kids come from poor families, so it's hard for us to get there," De La Rosa said.
An online fundraiser is now underway, with modest results so far, but every dollar counts.
"And we're trying to also put together maybe a bingo night and some raffles," parent Paulette Praddy said.
The Youth Baseball Organization, which started back in 1949, charges just $500 for its spring and summer program. That includes uniforms and equipment. If a family doesn't have the $500, the child plays anyway, Langford reported.
The boys are not unaware, their coaches said, that they may not be able to afford the trip they've earned on the diamond.
"There's a doubt in their mind whether or not they can go because of the finances and it would mean the world for every child to be there," coach Jose Castro said.
The young men deserve the chance to prove themselves in the World Series, according to the coaches grateful just to be part of this.
"We've been blessed with those kids, I guarantee you this," De La Rosa said.
Field of dreams, no matter what.
For more information on the team's fundraising efforts and how to help, click here.
