Nelson Cooper sees a concerning trend in baseball from the highest level down.
“As we saw last year, the World Series was the first one since the 1950’s without an African-American player,” he says.
So he and a partner founded the Pittsburgh Hardball Academy, a nonprofit removing barriers to baseball for underrepresented kids in the Pittsburgh area. It offers all access to the sport at a pay-what-you-can rate.
“We have a focus on getting kids who may not have the means to play high-level travel baseball and things of that nature, and give them the training opportunities to do so,” he says.
What started from $200 and 15 kids four years ago has boomed to 150 kids across multiple teams. They're not just showing up, they're winning.
“Our teams look a lot different than the teams that play in this region,” Cooper says. “And it makes it even more sweet to go an perform so well.”
The academy winning three straight tournaments may have come as a surprise to some watching - but not to players like Chyno Spearman.
The rising Penn Hill senior has been with the program since his freshman year and knows the work they put in.
“After games, when we take care of business and we get a win, it also feels good when the coaches in the handshake line tell us that we’re a really good team and they like the way we play,” Spearman says.
The academy's baseball legacy continues to build, and just reached a major milestone.
Derek Tarpley Junior out of Brownsville High School was drafted by the Oakland A's, the first Hardball Academy player to make it to Major League Baseball.
“A lot of kids throughout this region and throughout the country will look up to you,” Cooper says. “There’s small town kids all over the country. If he can get drafted, why can’t they? That was an amazing moment.”
But it's about far more than baseball. The academy is a year-round program that places an equal, if not stronger emphasis on life off the field.
It provides access to SAT prep, academic guidance and leadership opportunities.
Recently, Spearman led an effort to address the mental health crisis in young people, just one of the projects he's a part of.
“Those things are so important to me because it helps me become a better person, a better man,” he says. “And it helps me make the people around me better.”
For Nelson, it's those opportunities off the field that have sent over 30 kids to college and others to internships. Those are the moments that truly show how Pittsburgh Hardball Academy impacts lives in the long run.
“It’s one thing to get someone to college and put on Twitter that they’re committed,” he says. “But it’s even more important to me that they make it through college, and have a successful experience and enter our workforce in our region. They’re the next leaders in our region.”