This year there is a twist.
Boys and girls from 7 to 15 will still learn baseball and softball fundamentals but they will also learn about life as the Weldon Police Department begins its second year of the Badges for Baseball program.
Last year the police department, through its Police Athletic Club, ran a league with 10 teams which played other teams, Chief Mark Macon said Wednesday.
This year will be different. “We’re putting a new spin on it. It’s not so much a baseball league per se. We’re setting it up as a baseball fundamentals camp.”
Within the six week program, however, there will be classes taught by college students home for the summer or those preparing for college which will teach children about healthy choices, Macon said. “They’ll be teaching them respect, teamwork and success.”
The classes will be taught from 8 a.m. to noon Monday through Wednesday at Weldon High School beginning June 21.
There will be ballgames, but they will be played against other Badges for Baseball teams, many of which are sponsored through Boys and Girls clubs throughout the region.
The mentors will be paid this year, Macon said, through a $15,000 grant from the state Department of Justice. The grant also funded new equipment.
That the classes and instructions will be done at Weldon High School this year is also important, Macon said. “We think it will make a bigger impact by getting children who live in the inner city to ride their bikes or walk to the program,” he said. “It will give the kids coming back home a chance to work, teaching them (the participants) healthy choices and how to be leaders.”
Macon hopes to have 100 children participate this year. Last year there were 165 who participated in the program, which is sponsored by the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation.
Elie Bracy III, Weldon schools superintendent, is glad the program will be held at Weldon High School. “The program is beneficial to our students during the summer months,” he said. “With school closed there are no recreation facilities. It will provide our students with something positive during the summer.”
Bracy said the school system is working on refurbishing its baseball field for the program.
Sign up for the free program will be June 12 at noon at the Weldon high baseball field. Parents need to be present. For more information contact Macon at 252-536-1801 or email him at
