Sharing the love of baseball with Kershaw’s Challenge!

A baseball hitting the glove, bats hitting the ball and the laughter of students filling the crisp morning air, those were just some of sounds heard on the Toro’s baseball field today. The day started with breakfast by the pitchers mound, anxiously anticipating the arrival of the LA Dodgers All Start Pitcher Clayton Kershaw and his wife Ellen. When the Kershaw’s arrived, they received a proper Sharefest welcome, with posters, cheers and the smiling faces of all our youth.

 After a warm welcome and a wonderful introduction by Executive Director Chad Mayer, Kershaw took his place on the mound to speak with our youth. Clayton shared his story and background, crediting all of his success and achievements, to God. Then his wife Ellen, who has an amazing passion for Africa and children living there, inspired us. Together, the Kershaw’s conveyed to our youth that it is so important to recognize and develop their passions and talents.  Then once these they are discovered, to use these gifts to help the world in any capacity they can. Their words were wise and promoted some intriguing questions from our youth, such as “How were they (the Kershaw’s) planning on continuing to help the children in Zambia?” It was wonderful to see the wheels turn in our youth’s heads as they soaked in the answers provided by Clayton and Ellen. With a quick wrap up it was time to “Play Ball!” The children broke off into their teams and were split into 4 different stations that highlighted the basics of baseball. These stations included catching, throwing, base running techniques, hitting and learning to pitch from the All Star himself.

 

It was amazing to see how quickly students picked up the basics of the sport, and the sense of accomplishment when learning to pitch on the mound. Thanks to the hard work of volunteers from the San Pedro baseball team the stations ran smoothly and were not only instructional but fun as well. Along with a quick pitching lesson each student received a picture with Clayton Kershaw. The photos turned out amazing thanks to photographer Marcus Hoffman (www.marcusroyhoffman.com), who donated his time to Sharefest today. Eventually it was time to say good-bye to the Kershaw’s but the students left knowing they would see them again very soon! A big Thank You to the Los Angeles Dodgers for tickets to the game this Saturday, at 4:15 pm vs. Rockies. As a result of their generosity, 200 of our youth and their families have the opportunity to enjoy the game. Go Big Blue! Thank you once again to Clayton and Ellen Kershaw for their hands on support and a wonderful day on the field with our students.