D-backs’ DR academy hitting educational goals

Every team has an academy in the Dominican Republic where they work to train a young generation of talent to become Major League ballplayers. The D-backs are no exception, but they have something no other team does: their one-of-a-kind education program.

Other organizations offer classes for their players, but the D-backs ensure every student can earn a high school diploma, even if they are released by the team, a unique guarantee. Additionally, other teams may stop providing schooling once a player leaves the academy for the United States, but the D-backs are different.

“We provide a laptop for every player,” said Marcos Rosa, the academic coordinator for the D-backs. “It doesn’t matter where the player goes, he will be studying.”

• D-backs education initiatives

The organization feels this is crucial because they know many of the players will never make it out of the academy, let alone to the Major Leagues. At some point, they will have to do something other than play baseball.

Another problem is that in order to focus on signing with a team to play baseball, many players stop going to school at a fairly young …

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