Rockies and Padres Players Help Launch 2014-15 Action Team Program

On Saturday, September 6, the 2014-15 Action Team program officially got underway when more than 50 high school students from the Denver, Colorado area came together at a downtown hotel to attend one of two regional training sessions. The second training session will be held in New York’s Citi Field on Saturday, September 13.   In Denver, the attending teens, or Action Team Captains as they’re known, were joined by Major Leaguers LaTroy Hawkins, Adam Ottavino and Drew Stubbs of the Colorado Rockies as well as Robbie Erlin and Tim Stauffer from the San Diego Padres.   The players shared their personal, and often heartfelt, stories about giving back to the community. LaTroy Hawkins spoke about taking action after Hurricane Katrina hit and volunteering to travel to New Orleans and other areas to give a hand tearing down walls and building up spirits. Adam Ottavino had a similar story, sharing how inspired he was when Hurricane Sandy struck his native New York and how his neighbors came together to travel to the Rockaways to lend a hand. “Despite the cold temperature, people came together to help those who fell to such hardships, “ said Ottavino. “Just to see everyone come out like that in one big force, shows you the power of volunteering.”   Training session participants were also treated to a segment on public speaking and presentation skills by guest speaker, and longtime Action Team supporter, Avish Parashar, author of Improvise to Success!.   Action Team Captains shared their own stories about giving back and offered tips and best practices to each other after viewing training videos housed on ActionTeam.org’s members-only resource center. The topics included how to pick a project, get others involved and organize a project.   Action Team Captains left the training session with a bonus: Free tickets to that evening’s game between the Rockies and Padres. But that’s not all they left with. The teens left with a better sense of empowerment and confidence as they heard firsthand how important it is to give back to their community and to take on a leadership role as an Action Team Captain.   San Diego Padres pitcher Tim Stauffer said, “There are some tough things going on right now [in the world] and if you get a good solid base of people giving back, starting [even] younger than you guys and all the way up through high school, I think by setting that example for future generations will help us make sure we leave the world better for future generations.”   Started in 2003, and administered by the Major League Baseball Players Trust and Volunteers of America, the Action Team national youth volunteer program trains and inspires thousands of teens to get involved annually. With more than 100 schools across the United States, Puerto Rico and Japan, the Action Team has inspired more than 73,000 high school students to help more than 229,000 of their neighbors in need.   To learn more and to #JoinOurTeam, please visit www.ActionTeam.org