Kids Get Into Swing at Sports Academy
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Former Dodger Manny Mota gave lessons in the basics of baseball to a group of aspiring South Bay athletes Tuesday, as the L.A. Kids Sports Academy began a second season of free training for low-income youths at Hansen Dam Sports Center.
“These kids can’t go to a camp that costs $300 a week,” said Academy Director Gary Bond. “We feel by having these free programs, we’ll be introducing them to the game and they’ll be learning about the basics of life.”
Last summer, sessions in pitching, batting and base running were open to boys only, but this year a girls’ softball session was added. Camp coordinators said they hope to coach nearly 1,000 youths this summer in a series of four-day training sessions.
The campers, age 9 to 15, were picked by directors from 98 recreation centers in underprivileged neighborhoods across the county.
“We’d like to see them on the L.A. Dodgers one day,” Bond said of the campers.
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