Cary, N.C. - For just the second time, USA Baseball’s National Training Complex took part in one of Major League Baseball’s largest and brightest initiatives; Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities, or RBI.
From July 18th through July 21st, the NTC welcomed five organizations and their respective teams as a part of RBI, an MLB program sponsored by Nike that is seeking to reach underprivileged youth and provide the opportunity to play baseball and softball at no or a much lower cost for the players and families. The core missions of the program are to give these youth the opportunity not only to play baseball, but to encourage academic achievement and success, teamwork, and create lasting bonds.
Each of Durham Long Ball, Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, Baltimore Orioles, Carolina Metro Reds, and Metropolitan Junior Baseball League competed this week to win the Mid-Atlantic Regional and advance to the Nike RBI World Series, which is now held annually at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida. Some teams competed in both the junior and senior brackets, while others had just one squad. Junior and senior teams will advance from nine Regional sites this summer to compete at Vero Beach.
In both brackets, the championship games came down to both Durham Long Ball and the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. Durham Long Ball’s Jr. squad punched its ticket with a 10-1 win in the early title battle, followed by the Sr. team defeating the Orioles once more in a thrilling 5-4 battle.
The Impact of Nike RBI
Chris Haydock, the Senior Director of International Baseball Development with Major League Baseball, expressed how important it was to now be hosting the Nike RBI World Series at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex.
“By hosting it there, we're able to use all of our resources with MLB, whether that's our social media, the MLB Network, everything online, it really helps spread the word more. Getting the resources that MLB has behind the program and then getting Nike behind it as well as our lead sponsor is just another way to bring awareness to this special program,” Haydock said.
This week, Haydock isn’t flying several thousand miles and helping to grow baseball in countries around the globe. He’s in Cary to help facilitate this year’s Mid-Atlantic Regional, watching the game continue to grow in his own country. Growing the sport of baseball in the U.S. is one of the core goals of the Nike RBI program, and it has achieved that goal - by far.
Since its inception, the Nike RBI program has had an impact on around 2 million young players over the years thanks to more than 200 established programs in 200 cities around the U.S. Out of the many players who have come through the Nike RBI pipeline, there is a growing list at the major league and higher-level ranks. 2024 MLB All-Star Hunter Greene, 2018 World Series Champion Jackie Bradley Jr., and rising talent Alek Thomas are all alumni of both USA Baseball and the Nike RBI pipeline.
Steve Smiegocki has overseen the Nike RBI Regional through Major League Baseball as the Senior Coordinator of Baseball and Softball Development for several years. He highlighted the development aspects of the Nike RBI program, and what makes it special for Major League Baseball.
‘I think it's really about just giving additional opportunities and opportunities that they wouldn't have if it wasn't for MLB, whether that's them getting a chance to make the RBI World Series, or if that's them getting a $20,000 scholarship through Nike RBI for our scholarship program, or that's helping the local program with donations to ensure that those kids at the local level have access to baseball,” Smiegocki outlined. “What we also do is provide some financial reimbursement for all the teams that participate in regionals to ensure that they can get there and they can participate. As we know, it is a big cost for travel, buses, hotels, meals, all that good stuff.”
This year’s Nike RBI circuit features nine initial Regional Tournaments, hosting a combination of baseball and softball. USA Baseball and the National Training Complex are hosting the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament, the first time Cary has been tabbed to feature games since 2022. While there’s no softball component at the Regional this time around, there was plenty of baseball to be played.
Nike RBI and USA Baseball
Tyler Collins, Director of Youth Programs at USA Baseball, spoke about the process for USA Baseball to once again host a Nike RBI Regional at the National Training Complex, especially after the completion of the indoor facility this past spring.
“The Youth Programs team here works with Major League Baseball, youth baseball and softball development primarily on PLAY BALL initiatives, and this falls kind of under the PLAY BALL umbrella, if you will. Myself, along with Isaac Brown from the team, work pretty close with Steve [Smiegocki], who manages the whole Nike RBI program across the country,” Collins explained. “When we hosted back in 2022, parents, coaches, players were very happy about the experience of getting to come here to the NTC.”
The Durham Bulls Athletic Park has played host to multiple regionals throughout the years, hosted by the Durham Long Ball program under the Nike RBI umbrella. Smiegocki highlighted how that was a factor in helping put together another Regional at the National Training Complex.
“We know the NTC is a phenomenal place to host Regionals and give these kids an opportunity to play in a facility like that. In conjunction with working with our Durham Long Ball program, they were our host and recommended as well that USA Baseball would be a perfect fit for the regional, being that all the fields are really in one spot. That makes it nice from an operations standpoint,” Smiegocki explained.
Haydock expressed how much the connection to USA Baseball means, as well as what it meant for a program such as Nike RBI to be played at the NTC, especially now that the impressive indoor training facility was completed this past spring.
“Our partnership with USA baseball goes back many years, whether that's the support of the national teams, or just moving programs like this to the complex. The fact that USA Baseball has grown and has this beautiful complex in Cary, the brand new indoor building that they have and offices that they have, it's another vehicle for us to send our programs to,” Haydock stated. “The partnership has always been strong, and this is a great example of it. To have everything here in a self contained, first-class facility, the parents love it. We love it.”
Another big component of the National Training Complex playing host to RBI is what it can symbolize to players who are new to the game of baseball, or haven’t experienced much of the game outside of their local communities. Some of baseball’s brightest stars, both past, present, and future, have taken to the fields around the NTC for decades.
“There's players out there, and I think if we give them the opportunities, or if we come to them, it's going to make a difference and potentially give them some spotlight and a chance to make it to the next level, like Green, Bradley Jr., and Thomas,” Collins said. “These kids who play the games here can go back with some inspiration of crossing paths with our 18U National Team Training Camp guys here this weekend and playing at a nice facility like USA Baseball to hopefully continue to play, work hard, make Team USA, and then have aspirations to become Major League Baseball players.”
“It's awesome, and it's really exciting. And we love highlighting them, just to show that, you know, we do provide quality baseball and softball, and this is a program that people should consider if they want to play high level baseball and softball,” Smiegocki said while talking about some of Nike RBI’s top alumni. “There are some programs that don't care about the wins and losses, but there are programs that do focus on the development of kids, and that's to show that, you know, when it's done right, there is opportunity to advance and continue playing for that next level.”
Even for those not harboring major league aspirations, or even players who have recently gotten into the game of baseball, Nike RBI offers a unique opportunity to play in a new, competitive setting. Some players haven’t been far from their respective communities, and now have the chance to come compete at the home of the national governing body for baseball in the U.S..
“We're only going to have one winner. It's really what can folks learn from to take back home to get better moving forward, the learning experiences, the ups and downs, and finding ways to continue to really develop the next generation of major league citizens,” Smiegocki continued. “We know not everyone's going to go play at the professional level, so we want them to make new friends, have a good experience, see that there is more than just what's in their community, and hopefully that gives them some additional drive.”
One of the hopes that MLB and figures like Smiegocki have for the Nike RBI Regionals is that those who travel and play will be able to inspire future generations to also do so. Haydock noted that only about 25 percent of the local RBI programs, such as the five competing in Cary this week, travel to compete at the Regional competitions. There’s still immense potential for growth, and perhaps it starts with giving more players the opportunity to play the game of baseball around the country.
“For some of these kids, it's their first time leaving the community. So it's really trying to show them that there is more than where they typically are just playing within their local community,” Smiegocki explained. “We want to give them that access and opportunity to see that there is more. They have the right and potential to play on these fields, just like any other kids.”
“This is the biggest thing the players have probably done, an experience on the biggest stage they've ever been on. They might be coming from areas that may not have accessibility to fields, certainly not fields to this caliber here at USA Baseball,” Collins noted. “This is an awesome experience for them, hopefully providing inspiration to continue to work hard and go back into the communities where they're from and continue to get better as they continue to play the game.”
Haydock expressed a similar sentiment to both Smiegocki and Collins. While he’s proud of the fact that players have worked their way through the Nike RBI pipeline to heights such as playing for USA Baseball and taking the field in the big leagues, he gets the most joy from witnessing young players who are new to baseball learning and experiencing the game through the program.
“That's always the highlight of it for me, and that's really what this is about; getting new kids who maybe play other sports to at least try the game. It’s the kids who maybe this is their first time playing baseball, and maybe because they can't afford it with how expensive the travel has gotten,” Haydock said. For those players and their families, MLB covering the costs of traveling and competing in the Nike RBI Regionals is enormous.
Because of the varying levels of talent and how long players have been involved with baseball itself, the games themselves can be lopsided. The Mid-Atlantic Regional featured several such games this week. While a Jr. and Sr. champion is crowned during each Regional, there’s much more to the events than just competing for a title.
“Someone coming here can say, ‘Oh, wow, a team just got beat 17-1.’ But the other side of it is, well, this is a lot of the first time these kids are playing baseball. They're excited to be here. They're excited to take a trip. Which is cool, fun for them off the field. That sticks out for me,” Haydock explained.
From the Players' Perspective
Fun was something that Durham’s Levi Martinez spoke about in an interview on Saturday, reflecting on what the week had meant to him as he and his teammates geared up for the senior championship.
“It's just been an opportunity for me to fall back in love with baseball and get back into it and really do what I love. We'll just come out here with some guys and have some fun with it,” Martinez said.
Both Martinez and Corey Brown, who faced off on Saturday and then again on Sunday in the senior championship, raved about both their experiences within the Nike RBI program and at the Mid-Atlantic Regional over the last few days. Brown has been with Baltimore’s Nike RBI squad for three years, and he’ll remember his time with the Orioles for much longer than that.
“It’s building a brotherhood, building a new family. After this tournament, everybody's gonna go their separate ways. Just having this weekend alone, it's building a brotherhood, building connections, because we're gonna remember these people for the rest of our lives,” Brown said.
While Martinez hasn’t been with Durham’s Nike RBI club as long as Brown has in Baltimore, he echoed a similar sentiment when sharing what the team has meant to him.
“I’ve been with Durham for around a year now, and honestly, it's been a great experience. I played competitive baseball before, and It's just been a great opportunity to go out and have fun. These guys are a lot of fun to play with, and it's been a great experience.”
The opportunity of being able to come out and compete at the National Training Complex was also something the two players harped on while discussing their respective experiences throughout this summer’s Mid-Atlantic Regional.
“It's definitely been a new experience. When you play tournament ball, it's definitely different, but it’s just all about adapting. It's just been a good time, especially coming out here during the summer and playing in this tournament. It's just a good experience,” Brown highlighted. “The fields are nice. And just like I said, the competition level is just different. Just being able to compete with each other and against each other, that's the best part.”
Martinez once again shared a similar belief, one that is likely held by most if not all of the players who had the opportunity to compete for the Regional crowns in Cary this week.
“It's been a great experience, playing here at the USA Baseball fields. It's always a great experience. I've been having so much fun, and I know my team's been having fun. Competition is good, this week it's been both competitive and really fun,” the Durham outfielder said.
Brown and Martinez, along with every player who walked through the gates at the National Training Complex this week, are just a fraction of the massive and still-growing Nike RBI initiative. More and more players are now receiving the chance to experience what the pair have been able to through their respective teams, which is something that Chris Haydock couldn’t be prouder of.
“What's been exciting is not only the growth of it, but the fact that so many MLB Clubs have now gotten behind it. That really helped us grow the game too. So it's a win for everybody when you get the local organizers together with major league teams, that's where we’ve really seen a lot of growth,” Haydock said. “It’s baseball at such a pure level, where it's not expensive to play, focuses on just getting a regular season in and playing games. That’s really helped the growth of it.”
Steve Smiegocki is optimistic that the second Nike RBI Regional hosted by USA Baseball at the NTC is far from the last one, leaving the door open for the future.
“It's one of those things where as long as USA Baseball is willing to host us, they will always be considered as a potential venue to host them in the Atlantic [Region] just based off where they're centrally located, between a lot of the programs we have in North Carolina, D.C. and Baltimore,” Smiegocki said.
Right now, the focus for Nike RBI and Durham Long Ball’s Jr. and Sr. teams turns to Vero Beach and the Nike RBI World Series. At the National Training Complex, it’s been another week where the next face of baseball may have walked through the gates of the National Training Complex, and where bonds are forged between players and coaches that last a lifetime.
