Aninterview with Denise Ransom of the Oakland RBI Academy

Baseballis definitely one of the sports that mark summertime in the Bay Area. The Bay havingraised such baseball greats as Ricky Henderson, Dave Stewart and Jimmy Rollins,will you be the next one to perfect your skills to that caliber?

BayView: Can you tell us a little bit about what Oakland RBI Academy is? What doesit offer and when does it start?

Denise:The Oakland RBI Academy is both a baseball and softball activity and academicprogram. The RBI program has been operating for over 20 years, affiliated withthe Boys and Girls Clubs of America. The Oakland program continues thisaffiliation. The Oakland Boys and Girls Club will offer elementary and middleschool participants tutoring and enrichment programs in the mornings.

Highschool juniors and seniors can take classes at Merritt College that allow theparticipants to earn concurrent college credit while they are still in highschool. All participants take part in baseball or softball activities eachafternoon.

BayView: What do children learn out of being involved in organized sports?
Denise: Program registration starts May 1 and ends May 31. The program beginsJune 28 and runs through Aug. 30. The participants benefit from advancedtutoring for elementary and middle school students or advanced credits for highschool students.

Learninga team sport provides an understanding of working in a diverse environmentwhere the focus is outside of the individual, much like the real world.Participants learn patience, persistence, goal setting and achieving,interpersonal communication skills, group problem resolution and the value ofachievement. With appropriate coaching and counseling, youths participating inteam sports avoid situations that place their lives and their futures injeopardy.

BayView: A lot of parents want to keep their children involved in an activity. Whatkind of time every week will the children have to put in?

Denise:The program runs Monday through Friday. The academy program requires theparticipants report to the appropriate sites at the scheduled time. Forelementary and middle school students, the reporting site will be the localBoys and Girls Club at 8 a.m. High school juniors and seniors will report toMerritt College at 8 a.m. for morning classes. All participants will have studytables each afternoon, after baseball practice. But, there may be homeworkassignments.

Theparticipants will be rewarded for their work in a couple of ways: all participantswill get a stipend – they’ll get paid for attendance. It is an incentive to beon time and to participate. The minimum is set at $125 a week. The secondreward for participating is becoming a part of the Oakland RBI Academy’s AllStar team. The team will travel to Houston at the end of August to compete inthe national RBI Tournament.

BayView: What is the contact info?

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