Olympics in Focus: Lost Boyz Inc. Using Baseball & Softball to Support Black Youth
July 23, 2021
In recognition of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, we are taking a special focus on sport for development organizations who are making change in their communities through new or newly reintroduced Olympic sports.
This week, we are highlighting baseball/softball and therefore caught up LaVonte Stewart, founder and executive director of Chicago, Illinois' Lost Boyz Inc. - one of the 2019 winners of the Beyond Sport Sport for Reduced Inequalities Collective Impact Award supported by The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation.
Lost Boyz was founded in 2009 with the goal to decrease violence, improve social and emotional conditions and provide financial opportunities in Chicago's South Shore community in the US.
Having personally experienced the profound impact baseball could have on a child development, Stewart rallied his community around organized youth baseball as a platform to positively impact young lives, leveraging the benefits of team sports and baseball to provide opportunities for at-risk youth. In 2014, they expanded their programming to include girls and softball.
For Lost Boyz, ‘baseball is life’. Among its benefits, Stewart particularly notes the high level of cognition needed for the game, recognizing that just as scenarios exist in every game, the same goes for life. "Sometimes life moves so fast that you don’t have time to process what’s happening and a person must be able to reach into their repertoire of thought, experience and skill to respond appropriately.”
In 1992, baseball became an official Olympic sport, followed by softball in 1996. However, after the 2008 Beijing Games, they became the first sports in seven decades to be eliminated from the Olympic program. Both were reinstated this year, with competition starting this past Wednesday. Stewart could not be more excited for their return.
“For baseball to be in the Olympic Games shows its acknowledgment across the globe and baseball is by far one of the longest running sports enjoyed across the world.”
Since winning the award in 2019, Lost Boyz has launched "Successful Youth Leaders" (SYL) - its latest program in progressive development. SYL focuses on enhancing the developmental assets of youth through a continuum of service centered on baseball for teenagers and young adults aged between 15 and 24.
The five-year program’s goal is to expose youth to potential career fields and prepare them for their futures through the education and training received from collaborative partners and professional mentors. The program provides participants four industry paths to learn while earning a wage: Umpiring, Sports Journalism & Statistical Analysis, Field & Equipment Maintenance, and Coaching.
In addition to specialized training, participants develop job-life readiness skills, receive academic support for secondary and postsecondary education, and give back through volunteerism. "Participants are not only preparing for the workforce, but they are also interacting with successful professionals in their related fields. SYL teams are managed by professional mentors composed of qualified educators, business leaders, and industry experts."
As part of SYL, six teenage African American girls recently launched the first youth-owned micro-enterprise in Chicago’s South Shore – a mobile food truck and concession business called "Hot Girlz Grill". The young owners range from 15-19 years-old and all but two are members of the first female softball team started at Lost Boyz Inc.
The goal of Hot Girlz Grill is to build successful Black Women entrepreneurs explains Stewart. They create wealth for themselves while they’re young, helping to set themselves up for future economic success.
“Many of the owners come from poverty or government assistance. With this path, hopefully, they won't experience either in their own futures. This is how we break the cycle. They will also help pave the way for future youth.”
The young ladies raised $15,000 in seed capital for their business idea in 2019 and have since managed a large concession stand for all of the Chicago Bears’ home games, as well as for concerts, soccer games and the HBCU Chicago Football Classic game.
Lost Boyz Inc. is eagerly waiting to see what these incredible teens will do next. “We’re hopeful of the success of this first cohort and the impact it will have on future cohorts with ideas that will solve problems in their community and beyond.”
Lost Boyz Inc. has more incredible businesses and initiatives still to come this year that we are excited to see. Keep your eyes peeled for more things to come from this great organization! www.lostboyzinc.org
Click here to view the Tokyo 2020 Baseball/Softball competition schedule.