CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Junior Giants Baseball is coming to Clearlake.
Sign-ups for players, coaches, coordinators, assistants and other volunteers takes place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at Lake County Youth Services, 4750 Golf Ave., next to Redbud Park and the Little League fields, in Clearlake.
“Anybody who can help, I will find something for them to do,” Junior Giants Commissioner Ken Cowden said.
Junior Giants is the flagship program of the San Francisco Giants Community Fund.
It is a free, noncompetitive, innovative baseball program for boys and girls ages 5 to 18 years old.
A Junior Giants League based in Kelseyville, and overseen by the Sheriff's Activity League, has been active for about 15 years.
The program is all-inclusive regardless of skill level, experience or disability, including that of volunteers.
“Whatever the situation might be, it is our job to work around it,” Lake County Youth Services Volunteer Director Joyce Overton, who is also serving as assistant commissioner, said. “The purpose of this program is to make sure everybody can participate.”
According to its Web site, Junior Giants was created to provide at-risk children with a meaningful partnership with community-based organizations while providing an alternative to drugs, gangs and crime.
It welcomes children of all backgrounds and aims to encourage them to live healthy and productive lives by getting outside and playing baseball.
“It lets them start dreaming of tomorrow, today,” Cowden said.
The league is noncompetitive and places higher value on character than on wins and losses.
Cowden, who helped organize Junior Giants in Corning, said increased self-esteem and confidence are immediately apparent in participants.
“Once they get into the program, you see them change,” he said. “That's the reward for me.”
The program provides all the uniforms, equipment and training necessary to run the program. Cowden said volunteer coaches will have the opportunity to attend a professional training session provided by the Giants in San Francisco.
He said volunteers are essential for the program to succeed and encourages anyone, regardless of skill level or disability, to join the effort.
Volunteers will be subject to a background check by both the Giants organization and Lake County Youth Services, Cowden said.
In addition to the fundamentals of baseball, the program focuses more intently on the four bases of character development: confidence, integrity, leadership and teamwork as well as education, health and violence prevention.
Cowden said children can earn prizes by reading and through other educational incentives. He said he would like to get the library involved in the project and welcomes any community partnerships.
“We are working with Southshore Little League and we got Lake County Youth Services on board, now we are looking for more (partners),” he said.
Cowden is reaching out, in particular, to participants and volunteers in the south county area as the program will be based in Clearlake.
The program also provides game tickets so children can experience a live Major League Baseball game.
Cowden said, while participation is at no-cost, this where the youth have to ban together and raise funds to cover transportation costs.
The program will run through August with two to three practices a week plus one game.
The league is divided into age groups with a senior league for older players.
For more information about participating, call LCYS at 707-994-KIDS (5437).
Email Denise Rockenstein at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .