Royals Foundation aims to give kids access to renovated fields across the Midwest

RAYTOWN, Mo. (KCTV) - Thousands of kids across the Midwest take the diamond during the spring and summer months, envisioning being the next Bobby Witt Jr. or perhaps another Kansas City Royal.

But a number of those fields have seen better days. Enter the Royalty Fields program from the Kansas City Royals Foundation.

The initiative began more than 20 years ago and has renovated more than 130 baseball and softball fields across Kansas and Missouri.

“We need to create that access for all kids across the Midwest region,” said Royals Foundation senior coordinator Emerson Peavey.

The renovation at Primitivo Garcia Elementary School will be the first elementary school in the Kansas City Public Schools district to have its own baseball or softball field. The $107,000 renovation will wrap up next week.

Dave Patterson, the Raytown Youth Baseball-Softball Association president and former major league pitcher, said his organization couldn’t survive without the Royalty Fields program.

“To have this field and to let the kids play, it’s a dream,” Patterson said while walking the base path at Little Blue Trace Park field. “It’s what we want to do here.”

The field will benefit from $15,000 contributed by the Royals Foundation to bring the Raytown youth facility back to life.

“It develops physical skills,” Patterson said. “It develops communication skills. And it gives them maybe a future.”

To learn more about the Royalty Fields program, click here.

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