Badges for Baseball

Attorney General Roy Cooper has teamed up with the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation to bring Badges for Baseball to North Carolina. Badges for Baseball pairs law enforcement professionals with North Carolina youth as mentors and coaches.

Badges for Baseball gives young people a positive way to spend their time after school when they’re most likely to get in trouble. The program uses baseball and softball to engage kids with positive role models. Kids learn the basics of baseball and softball while also learning character development.

In North Carolina, Badges for Baseball served more than 6,000 young people in 17 communities across the state in 2009.  More than 100 officers from 39 different law enforcement agencies across North Carolina are participating in the program through Boys and Girls Clubs and Police Athletic Leagues, along with 145 other adult mentors.

Badges for Baseball is made possible in North Carolina through grants from both the North Carolina Department of Justice and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation.

For more information about the national Badges for Baseball program, visit www.ripkenfoundation.org

North Carolina law enforcement officers who are interested in serving as mentors through the program can contact SBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mike DeSilva at (919)716-6400.