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Program pairs Grand Rapids first responders and kids up for baseball league

Grand Rapids Police continue their mission to mentor area kids with baseball.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It's summer, and that means many area kids are gearing up for the baseball season.

As some pay for summer away camps, one local clinic aims to teach kids the game of baseball, while also mentoring them at the same time.

The Grand Rapids Police Department along with volunteers kicked off their summer program, OnBase with GRPD.

It originally started several years ago as a summer baseball league. After the COVID Pandemic, it was revived into a baseball clinic.

The goal is to teach children the game in a positive environment, while also connecting them with police officers early in their lives.

"So many kids quit because they have such a bad coach and bad experience," said Daniel Bennett, one of the coaches that volunteers time at the program. "You might have 12 t-ball teams one year, and the next year they go up and you have six, because six teams quit, six amount of kids quit. So it's very important that they learn the game to have fun, and coaching is very, very important at that stage."

The clinic is still organized by GRPD officers, including Officer Wade Heidbreder. Officer Heidbreder volunteered his time after a late night shift, hoping to teach kids the sport and have fun himself.

"Growing up, police officers were role models," said Officer Heidbreder. "They seem to be the leaders in the community. Kids always look up to them, so being able to spread the positivity that you know, police officers are part of the community as well, that's one of the things I really like about this department and about this program."

The program just started this week and will continue on over the next several weeks at different city parks.

If you'd like to sign your child up for the event, you still can by clicking here.

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