P&G Enhances MLB’s Cincinnati Reds Partnership

American multinational consumer goods company, P&G has committed $2,000,000 to MLB’s Cincinnati Reds and the Reds Community Fund’s Urban Youth Academy.

The Reds Urban Youth Academy will be a baseball and softball training facility at Roselawn Park in Cincinnati that provides free, year-round instruction for boys and girls ages 6-18 from Greater Cincinnati and throughout Reds Country.

“P&G is proud to continue our partnership with the Reds and the Reds Community Fund to help improve the Cincinnati community through the development of the first Urban Youth Academy in the Midwest,” said Jodi Allen, P&G VP North America Marketing and Brand Operations.

The complex will include four renovated fields and a 33,000 square foot building featuring batting cages, pitching tunnels and a full indoor field. Groundbreaking will be in 2013 with project completion expected in 2015.

“We are committed to creating opportunities to get more kids to play baseball,” said Phil Castellini, Reds Chief Operating Officer. “With the support of P&G and our other partners the Academy will be the hub for urban baseball and softball training in Greater Cincinnati and hope to serve more than 20,000 kids and coaches annually.”

The Reds Urban Youth Academy is modeled after Major League Baseball academies in Compton, Ca., Houston, Philadelphia and New Orleans.

The Reds Community Fund currently operates the Reds Urban Youth Academy at the temporary home of Cincinnati Public School’s Gamble Montessori High School in Winton Place. The fall/winter session starts Oct. 22 and offers free baseball and softball instruction four days a week to boys and girls from Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky public schools.