Sports Camp Gets in Shape for 2nd Season

The L.A. Kids Sports Academy, a baseball training camp at Hansen Dam Sports Center for low-income children from across Los Angeles, is gearing up for a second year of instruction starting July 6.

Last summer the academy held sessions for boys only but this year also designed a girls softball program, said coordinator Gary Bond.

“The whole idea is to focus on those kids who don’t normally have an opportunity to play,” Bond said. “If these kids had to go to a private camp, it would cost them probably upwards of $250, $300 a week to go. They’re getting an opportunity that kids in the wealthier areas now get.”

The city’s Department of Recreation and Parks provided nearly $200,000 for the program--money granted to the city by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Bond said.

Directors of 98 qualifying recreation centers in low-income areas select children between 9 and 14 to attend the academy. Bond said the program stresses fundamental baseball skills, respect, discipline, teamwork and fun.

“Our whole emphasis is not competition,” he said.

Each participant in the program will receive a cap or visor, a T-shirt, baseball pants or softball shorts, a group picture, a trip to a Dodgers or minor league professional baseball game and a skills evaluation.

The program runs through Aug. 27.