The swing of the bat and the call of “play ball!” is heard throughout the city in spring youth baseball programs from little leagues to advanced youth competition.
But there is a program based in Spring Branch that sets itself apart from any other sports programs by focusing on the whole child … mind, body and soul: SpringSpirit aims to provide pathways for youths to realize opportunities through sports, education and mentoring programs based on Christian principles.
Alongside his wife, Melissa, SpringSpirit founder and president Kenny Baldwin established SpringSpirit in 2009 as a tribute to the dedicated coaches, teachers, mentors and faith leaders who have encouraged him through his life. They helped enable him to attend Rice University on a baseball scholarship.
After becoming a consultant in the oil and gas industry, Baldwin followed his desire to create some of the same opportunities and relationships for under-served youth through the SpringSpirit Baseball Program.
Now it has grown to include competitive and recreational programs in baseball, softball and soccer for both boys and girls.
“Our focus is to develop the whole character beyond playing sports. The program exists to provide safe pathways for youth to realize life opportunities through sports, education, and mentoring programs,” according to SpringSpirit Chief Operating Officer Rachel Owens.
At the same time, she said, “We want kids to understand the relationship with God. We want them to hear the Gospel. I don’t think of it as a separate pillar so much as embedded amongst all our pillars, because really that is what we really try to do.”
Music, food, games and a Christ-centered message combine with various sports for high-energy family fun and fellowship at Friday Night Live events.
The most intense and concentrated efforts actually happen off the field — with educational services for students focused on the value of education and improving literacy.
SpringSpirit has worked with Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD) to shape a reading program, called Lifting Every Elementary. It’s a volunteer-led, after-school reading program for struggling elementary readers.
“We know that the ability to read, and read effectively, plays such a pivotal role in academic achievement in the later grades,” Owens said. “Ensuring students get on level by middle school is essential to keep the learning going.”
SpringSpirit also develops its educational programs to complement the SBISD initiative “T-2-4:” Every graduate will attain a technical certification, military training or a two-year or four-year college degree.
SpringSpirit provides mentoring and tutorials to assist students with academics and will soon offer programs that focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Centering on children’s needs in mind, body and spirit is quite an undertaking and it truly does take a village — or should we say, a friend? Friends of SpringSpirit is a volunteer program that offers youth and adults the opportunity to work and support the SpringSpirit mission.
The group is always actively looking for such volunteers, including those who can pitch in for as little as one hour a week, for its Friday Night Live events, smaller group events and academic help such as reading to students.
“We are proud that when we look at numbers, 100 percent of our kids who are in our program have graduated. What we are doing is working and we want to build on that,” Owens said.
Support for SpringSpirit programs comes from the national Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, Spring Branch ISD, the Houston Police Department, Spring Branch Family Development Center, Boys and Girls Club, Spring Branch Community Health Center, the Mayor’s Office of Gang Prevention and Intervention and Council Member Amy Peck, as well as local churches such as founding partner Chapelwood United Methodist Church, Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Second Baptist Church and St. Jerome Catholic Church.
Complementing services to children, SpringSpirit provides courses for parents on subjects such as how to fund resources for children and interface with teachers.
SpringSpirit has served more than 1,700 individuals, according to its latest annual report. That is the kind of score that makes everyone a winner.
— By Jessika Leal
