The baseball and softball players at Frederick Douglass High School have new uniforms, a covered batting cage and new equipment thanks to their hometown team, the Atlanta Braves.
On a windy Wednesday morning, the student-athletes cut the ribbon with representatives from APS, the Atlanta Braves and Truist Bank and thanked them for the generous gift.
“This means a lot to my players because they see that outside of me and my assistant coach, people really care about them and want to see them do good in life,” Douglass High School head baseball coach Henry Culberson Jr. said. “They redid everything from the batting cages to the bullpens, dugouts, field, and they have more to come. I’m really appreciative of what they’re doing.”
The Atlanta Braves Foundation adopted Frederick Douglass High School as one of its Hank Aaron All-star schools back in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans to revitalize the school’s facilities.
But the Braves kept the Douglass Astros on their minds and maintained their commitment to the school.
“This is such an important anchor in our community,” Atlanta Braves vice president of community affairs and executive director of the Atlanta Braves Foundation. “Not just for the athletes here at Frederick Douglass High School, but for other programs like L.E.A.D. that uses this space, our RBI program, to really bring athletes and community together around the sport of baseball and softball.”
The players, dressed in their new Nike jerseys, were grateful and excited for all the upgrades now available to them. Darien Harden, a senior who pitches and plays third base for Douglass, will get to finish out the season with the upgrades and is glad they will be available to future student-athletes at Douglass.
“Even though I’m a senior, I would still like to thank the Braves for this,” he said. ” We love the new uniforms and equipment. The batting cage, bullpen and dugout come in clutch, and I just love it.”
APS’ partnership with the Atlanta Braves has not only benefited Douglass High School, but also Booker T. Washington High School. Field maintenance and facility upgrades have helped provide resources to help APS athletic programs be more competitive.
“We always want to figure out ways to improve the resources for our student-athletes, and there’s no better way for baseball and softball than to get it from the professional home team, the Atlanta Braves,” APS director of athletics Corrie Collier said. “We are so thankful for the Atlanta Braves and Truist. Rendell Jackson played a major role in this project with the Braves, and we’re just happy that our student-athletes and our coaches get an opportunity to experience the resources that have been afforded to them by the Braves.”
Discover more from APS Today
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
