Hall of Famer returns to Michigan hometown to unveil new high school fields

and New York City to lead Healthy Lifestyles succeed academically and create positive change as junor Leaders we make a difference in our community locally by volunteering at community events however we also Venture into other communities this past summer we had the chance to travel to Atlanta to make an impactful service project alongside Dereck and Charlie which benefited local students in addition to doing our part to make the world a better place turn two also provides us with opportunities to go toour colleges and universities all over the country they allow us to participate in internships and prepare for our future from working hard in school to prioritizing community service and much more we are proud to serve as role models for our peers and carry forth turn two's core values and we are honored to gather with you all and be a part of this special Milestone today turn 2's mission is all about helping young people become a better version of themselves and we know these fields would do just that helping future student athlet for years to come now please join us in welcoming our principal Miss Valerie Bogan thank you Seda thank you Isaiah well welcome to cazo Central High School it is an honor and privilege to have you here today um I just want to take a moment to say thank you to Derek thank you to Charlie thank you to the Jeter family um thank you to the Cal Ripken Foundation so one of the things that I just would like to take just a few seconds to say is it's important for our students to understand that this dream didn't just happen um that sometimes things are worth the waight and that just because something is delayed doesn't mean that it's denied these are teachable moments for our students to understand the fields represent more than the opportunity for baseball players or softball players to have an opportunity to physically play it represents um a a family giving back to the community it represents change they get to understand um if you speak with Jim or if you talk to Blaine they understand that prior to what you're witnessing right now it was Rocky sometime the soil was hard to break up those are life experiences that our students have every single day and when they walk walk out here they get to understand that Rocky things can become beautiful and that beauty is a silent teacher and that they have an opportunity to say that they can give back because they observe it daily every time they walk on the campus of kazou central there's history here of how people didn't turn away and walk away but they came back gave back so that life could be better we refer to our students as World Changers because we know that they're going to make this world a better place so sometimes you don't hit a home run sometimes you strike out but even if you just get a base hit you're still in the game and it's important to keep swinging and I want to say that this is a home run thank you Derek thank you Charlie we appreciate it thank you for letting your Footprints resonate at calu Central High School it is my pleasure to introduce the superintendent of kalamazo public schools Dr Slade thank you Miss ban I want to follow up and say I'm a big supporter of high school sports um a lot of memories will be made on this baseball field also want before I introduce um as a Baltimore native I'm growing up watching the Rivalry between the Oriol and the Yankees it's it's a big deal for me to be standing up here seeing two Living Legends I'm also so just happy and proud proud that they give back to the community all athletes don't do that so I want to introduce Miss Charlie Jeter the president of the turn two foundation and a kou Central graduate who played a major role in making this happen today thank you so much I'm not this tall this was made for Dereck and Cal okay um thank you so much um thank you everyone for being here and before I started I just wanted to say um I have my 12-year-old son who's here today Jaylen um who's missing school and also his first day of basketball tryouts because I thought it was very important for him to see that with everything he's seen with his uncle and what he's accomplished on the field throughout his career that this is really the True Legacy that is going to follow Derek and our family for the rest of our lives so I thought this was a very important moment for you to know that when you get older this is what you you will be doing in the communities that have touched your life um and that's going to be the most important thing that you do uh in your life so um I want to also thank our jeters leaders um Isaiah and Seda for welcoming us us all here it's not easy to get up in front of a group especially of your peers as well and speak um as a CSU Central alumni I can tell you how excited I am to be here to Mark the official opening of these new baseball and softball fields cumu is a very special place for my family it's where Derek and I grew up where we discovered our passions and where our parents taught us important values that we now pass on to young people in in this community Through the turn two Foundation it's also where my mother spent a lot of years trying to raise money for these soft for the softball fields that are right over there so Mom we did it finally um as you heard from both Isaiah and Seda turn 2's various specialized programs help youth to recognize the strength and and potential within themselves to overcome challenges set and achieve their goals and truly flourish as Leaders when Derrick and I began having discussions about this initiative to renovate the field it was important to us that we created a space where more young people would feel empowered to believe in themselves and as we stand here today I'm so proud of how this project which has been years in the making came together to support this fantastic community that we all call call home so I just want to thank a few people and I know it's cold so I'll be quick um first of all I want to thank she's not here today because she came down with pneumonia over the weekend but Sterling eids from Excel Sports who spearheaded this project with me from day one um and I'm really sad that she can't be here we learned a lot more about construction than we ever wanted to um but the project would not have been possible without her her support and her help I want to also thank Gary start and Karen Jackson from cumy public schools for doing everything to assist us in making this a possibility um um and thank you to Steve Salem and Chuck Brady from the Cal rookin senior Foundation um I I remember calling them early on and just saying I wanted a little bit of advice on doing a field project because they do these all over the country and not only did they help us with a game plan um but they helped guide us in having the highest quality fields that we could we could put um put out here for CSU Central so thank you very very much um and to Cal Ripken Jr thank you for being here support the event um while it's obvious you've been a role model on the field and through your baseball career um what you and your family have done for the community over the years has been an inspiration to us as a family so thank you um and last but certainly not least um Mr Jim feltch from Elite uh from Elite companies thank you thank you thank you uh over five years ago he said he was going to help me um and he wanted to support this project not because we were doing it but because he wanted to support a pro like this in the community um and he did just that so we look forward to witnessing how the Cy Central students take what they learn while playing on these fields to not only shine as athletes but to also grow as confident well-rounded individuals um thank you and now it is my pleasure to introduce Mr Jim belch from Elite wow it is a very exciting day and thinking back to where it kind of started where you ended um Derek said something to me the other day and he said celebrate the win celebrate the win and it was really I thought about that in Kalamazoo this is a win I mean how awesome is this to have this in our community I would be remiss if I didn't thank a few people one is the trade contractors you guys are amazing your efforts your dedication I know there were a lot of early mornings late nights weekends um your efforts in Artistry and what you guys do is so appreciated that we are able to have this um as a reflection of what you do Tower pinkster taking the design that you guys had and giv us the opportunity to bring this to reality thank you for the partnership the coordination the collaboration um and sports fields Blaine you are a machine I don't see him out here but I'm sure he's doing something there he is uh it's been a pleasure to see your expertise applied with our trades with our partners and being able to watch how you do what you do this is a beautiful product and sports field has been an amazing asset in that um Kazo Public Schools Valerie thank you for allowing us to completely interrupt your school year when you came back from Summer uh we have had so many coordination with Karen um thank you so much for your patience thank you for allowing us to kind of take over this field um it's been an awesome opportunity and to witness and turn to it's it's a blessing is the best way I can put it from a soul for perspective um what you've been able to do for the Kalamazoo Community and to have this as not only just a purposeful project but a sustainable project in the fields is so grateful so uh thank you for trusting Elite companies to be your partner um thank you for the many late calls and the weekend calls has been awesome so um thank you guys so much and I can't wait to see this go into use so with my pleasure I get to welcome Steve Salem uh president and CEO of the Cal Ripken senior Foundation thank you Jim um I noticed we have a bunch of the high school athletes here can we turn toward them and give them a round of applause and thank them for being with us today how do you like your new Fields yeah uh it's really wonderful to be here in camou with all of you it's been such a privilege to be part of this uh wonderful project I want to thank charlee and Derek for allowing us to play our small role and I'd like to extend my congratulations to Mr and Mrs Jeter as well can we give them a round of applause for I know how how proud you must be of your daughter and your son the Cal Ripken senior foundation will impact nearly 1.5 million young people this year our programs will run in more than 30 States and hundreds of communities this field is the 118th field project that we have been a part of uh and it really makes a difference in these communities uh in the process of working across the country we partner with many many people including a lot of athletes and celebrities and trust me on this on a tough project like this it is so unusual to find one Derek or Cal and in Cal amazou today we have them both let's give them a round of applause I'd like to ask our board chairman Cal riin senior Foundation board chairman Harold himin to come up Charlie and Derek we just have a small token of appreciation that we want to give you would come up Harold why don't you read these presented to Derek Jeter on behalf of the Cal ripin senior Foundation we thank you for our partnership and for your enduring commitment to America's youth November 14 2023 and to charlee Jeter on behalf of the Cal Ripken senior Foundation we thank you for our partnership and for your enduring commitment to America's youth November 14 2023 thank you now it's my pleasure to introduce our next speaker I've been a little nervous about this because we were in uh t Mississippi last week I introduced him as the greatest shortstop ever we're in Baltimore the greatest shortstop ever I don't want to get beat up so first I want you all to know something about Cal he gets a lot of opportunities just like Derek can't do them all some of these he turns down his private business opportunities he never ever says no when we tell them we need them for the kids never it doesn't matter where we're going and so uh it's really an honor to be here with him as we travel on this journey uh I want to introduce Carrie Libo our coo John maroon our PR guy the folks from Fields Mark staller and Greg kerbo Chuck Brady was introduced and you met our board chairman we're all really proud to be here and now I would like to ask one of the two greatest Short Stops ever to play the game to come on up I thought it would be fun to uh make a comparison between dererk and myself uh real quickly um we have these things in common we both played shortstop we both won the Rookie of the Year and in fact last night we both had the honor of presenting the Rookie of the years uh to MLB we both played on one team for our entire career we both both won a World Series I had one he had a lot more than one um we both were fortunate enough to be raised by terrific um parents in solid homes and because of that similarity that last similarity we were both encouraged to use the platform that baseball provided us to give back and make a difference in the lives of young people we do our work through the foundation named for my dad the Cal Ripken senior foundation and Derek does it through the foundation he started with his family the Turn 2 Foundation the work that the Turn 2 Foundation has done since 1996 is making a tremendous difference for kids Nationwide and to be able to partner with him and his foundation to bring this amazing Park to Kalamazoo is so special Derek understands that as amazing as his accomplishments were on the field the Legacy He is building with the turn two foundation will even be more gratifying so on the field we shared some moments I competed against Derek for about five almost six years uh we played and that includes uh the playoffs as well he uh introduced me to a young kid by the name of Jeffrey mayor who turned his Fly ball to right field into a home run that ended up beating us in uh in that playoff series um I still have a problem with that he was there the last day of the streak you know I ended the streak uh um against the Yankees and he was the first one to notice what was happening which I thought was really cool and special and he got the Yankees to uh um to to realize what was happening and they all stood up and gave me a really nice Ovation so I'm very grateful for that um so I I guess Derek just congratulations on everything you've done on and off the field I am thrilled that our foundation collaborated on this wonderful project and hopefully we can do more important work together so it's my uh pleasure to introduce Mr Derek Jeter thank you Cal it's it's um kind of a surreal moment to be standing here you know I looked up to Cal Ripken because he's much much much much older than I am so I looked up to Cal Ripken and you know let me point out the fact that this is not the first time that Cal has supported our foundation you know he's done that over the years and you know you and I both know how how important places like this are for kids to realize their dreams and motivate them to achieve greatness So Cal cannot thank you enough for showing up being here in person because I think a lot of times people talk about giving their time but I think being present is is much more important than just donating and giving back and and you've always done that and I appreciate it you know thank you everyone for joining us this morning um you know ever since I can remember my dream has been pretty clear I was going to be shortstop for the New York Yankees and I worked extremely hard at it and a lot of the work took place at cumo Central High School and you know the baseball and softball fields are are where many young people they recognize their passions they realize their passions they learn how to overcome obstacles and I learned a lot of things that helped shape me as a player more importantly as a person and uh you know that's work ethic it's passion it's it's family um I do want to point out my parents who are here today because you know I we used to live right there and we would jump the fence as a family and it's sort of rejiggered now that's the word right rejiggered so it's rejiggered now sball field used to be over there so we would jump the fence and for fun and for family time my dad would throw me batting practice my sister and my mom would be shagging in the Outfield then we go over over to the softball fields and we do the same things for her so we have a lot of memories here so I just want to acknowledge my parents and thank you for always supporting us you know our our foundation's program's work is is to empower young people here in kalamazo to to lead healthy and successful lives um and our hope is with these new Fields they feel empowered and they can set their minds to accomplish anything um thank you once again to Cal Ripken senior Foundation Cal and the entire team we spent hours last night talking and reminiscing about stories and what a wonderful group and and uh I know how hard it is to run a successful foundation and it's all about the people and you guys are all wonderful we really appreciate your support uh we want to thank kamazo public schools and Elite companies because you know this is a project took a lot of people for us to be standing here today it took many many years how many years has it been been about yeah yeah it's it's been a it's been a long one thank you to some of my High School coaches and teachers who are here um and who couldn't come here today but then also everyone that's played a role in this important project and and uh look I know I see some of the softball players here I uh baseball players I don't I don't know where they are if they're some of them okay there we go um I'm pulling for you it's been a long time since I've been here I'm gonna get out here to watch you guys play but I'm pulling for you I hope you enjoy the new Fields thank you all for coming this is a proud moment for me and my family thank you thank you Derek and thank you everyone for coming out today it has been an incredible morning hearing from everyone who helped make this project a reality kamu Central's baseball and softball teams are excited to kick off their seasons on these new fields and we can't wait to see them bring home wins right here here now without further Ado let's cut this ribbon and officially commemorate these new fields e e wants to count [Applause] two you get