White Oak Athletic Association in White Oak, PA, was a recipient of an equipment grant in 2020 as part of the Pirates Charities and Tull Family Foundation program, which provided baseball and softball gear to 20 leagues in Pennsylvania and one program in West Virginia.
White Oak is an organization within the East Suburban Youth Baseball League serving the McKeesport and White Oak, with around 110 kids in its program. In applying for a grant, the league aimed to help kids entering the program have the basic equipment needed to enjoy the game, to lessen the burden on families in purchasing equipment, and to provide the teams with better items to coach and educate.
“The baseballs provided saved us money at a time when we had almost zero funding from fundraisers and concessions (due to COVID-19). The equipment grant allowed us to provide additional catcher’s equipment to teams to better comply with COVID-19 guidance. It also allowed us to provide better educational practices and drills, as we were able to utilize multiple batting tees. At 12 years old, Justin has been playing baseball for quite some time and has always been a solid player. Late last season, Justin’s performance batting had dipped to something that we weren’t accustomed to. The start of this season didn’t look much better, but Justin was determined to figure it out and break through this slump. His dedication and hard work paid off, both at the plate and in the field. None of this would be possible at this time without the support of the grant that we were awarded, which allowed our focus to remain on the kids and providing good instruction” – Thomas Minnick, President – Baseball Operations
· Years Involved:2020, 2021