PLAYUsing the Power of Baseball to Engage 100,000 Angelenos in PLAY!
The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, together with the support of partners, donors, and fans, will activate LA to get more kids, families, and communities active and energized to PLAY!
Please describe the activation your organization seeks to launch.
Through Dodgers Dreamfields, we create vibrant spaces for communities to play and provide ample opportunities for community involvement at these sites, through the Dodgers RBI program, fitness clinics, baseball/softball skills clinics, mini-festivals and more! We are confident that we will reach over 15,000 kids each year, along with their families, across 55 Dreamfields in the LA area by 2020! With the help of sponsors, partners and volunteers, we will activate 100,000 Angelenos to play in LA!
Which of the PLAY metrics will your activation impact?
Number of children enrolled in afterschool programs
Number of parks with intergenerational play opportunities
Number of residents with easy access to a “vibrant” park
Will your proposal impact any other LA2050 goal categories?
LA is the best place to LEARN
In what areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
County of Los Angeles
How will your activation mobilize Angelenos?
Digital organizing or activism
Trainings and/or in-person engagements
Influence individual behavior
Connect Angelenos with impactful volunteer opportunities
Increase donations to organizations and causes
Describe in greater detail how your activation will make LA the best place to PLAY?
We promote play to a level that will increase the number of residents that access a vibrant park, increase enrollment of kids in after-school programs, and increase opportunities for inter-generational play in LA.
We refurbish fields across LA County to support community play in underserved communities through Dreamfields. At these fields, we set the stage to play baseball/softball by adding stadium aesthetics to existing fields, planting new sod, and upgrading backstops, dugouts and benches to make parks a safer place to play baseball/softball in the community. Our data shows that these revitalized fields have the power to create vibrant play spaces, as well as cultivate safe and centralized environments for communities to play.
Through Dodgers RBI, fitness clinics, skills clinics, workshops and community events, we promote programs that are necessary to sustain park activity and ensure these spaces remain vibrant parks for the community. With RBI, we provide underserved communities with equipment and program resources that are necessary for youth ages (5-18) to play baseball/softball in LA. Here, youth are able to participate in a positive recreational activity after-school, alongside their peers. To engage adults in RBI, we provide training to coaches, parents and park administrators to empower them to be better role models and leaders for their community. We encourage them to share their experience with us, and each other, to inform program design and improvements. We also provide them access to LeagueApps, an online sports registration and communication platform, to stay informed of program activities at Dreamfields, within RBI, and in the community. LeagueApps allows park staff to share announcements of upcoming events at their local park so as to drive digital organizing efforts in the places where they live. Collectively, these efforts engage the community to be active in play and to participate in inter-generational programming at Dreamfields and RBI.
We also provide a breadth of volunteer opportunities for corporate and community volunteers at Dreamfields sites and RBI activities. Volunteers participate in registration and coordination of special events, such as community service days to further promote their involvement in the community and invest in play-related programs. Additionally, we collaborate with numerous fitness, sports, and play-oriented organizations to promote play in the community through fitness clinics, skills clinics and coach development workshops. These collaborations further engage youth in after-school programs, build cohesive community identity, reinforce play in our programming, and contribute to the vibrancy of the park that supports a play-active LA.
Lastly, we engage over 3 million Dodger fans each season to support play and donate to our cause. At Dodger games, we interact with fans to enhance awareness of our mission and to get them activated for play in LA through individual giving opportunities.
How will your activation engage Angelenos to make LA the best place to PLAY
Within our Dreamfields and RBI programs, we engage youth, families and communities that are underserved and under-resourced. Our focus is on communities with low median household incomes and high poverty levels (compared to California) which demonstrates economic need. The ethnic/racial demographic make-up of the area is also evaluated to ensure diversity and inclusion in our programming. With these measures, we strategically identify underserved and diverse communities that could benefit from Dreamfields and RBI.
We promote Dreamfields and RBI programs to these communities through use of our social media accounts, which reaches over 35,000 followers. Dodgers baseball branding is also placed on program uniforms, equipment, promotional materials, scoreboards and banners, to engage the community and appeal to the Dodger fan in everyone. We are able to further promote this activation to Dodger fans by marketing it through Dodger events, flyers, videos, in-game announcements and merchandise. Events that we will market are: RBI festivals, fitness clinics, skills clinics, Dreamfields dedications, community service days, volunteer and donation opportunities. With such a prolific brand, we are able to elevate our programs and social media presence to activate the community for play.
To make this activation a success, we will also encourage community partners, sponsors, volunteers, and organizations to promote these events, so as to serve as activators for play.
Please explain how you will define and measure success for your activation.
We administer a comprehensive evaluation system for Dreamfields and RBI, which allows us to better understand participants, program elements, and community needs. We will conduct surveys, focus groups, and interviews with program participants, partners, volunteers, and community members to evaluate this activation.
We will measure success in after-school enrollment by observing increase attendance in RBI, community events, fitness clinics, skills clinics, trainings and workshops. We will measure access to vibrant park by observing positive trends in park attendance, surrounding neighborhood, park safety, park atmosphere, park usage, park activities through recreation center, community service, sports program recruitment, and field maintenance. We will measure success in inter-generational opportunities for play with positive trends in coaches attendance at training, coaches certified in coaching, attitude towards coaches and adults in program, satisfaction of program among coaches and parents, and parental involvement. Success with Angeleno engagement will be observed by increase in individual donations from in-stadium fundraising, corporate and community volunteerism, and use of LeagueApps. Positive attitudes and satisfaction from program supporters will also be evaluated as a metric of engagement.
Current Dreamfields and RBI data indicates positive trends within all these measures, giving us the confidence to continue this success throughout our activation.
Where do you hope this activation or your organization will be in five years?
This activation award will be the catalyst that propels our work forward and increases our ability to bring play to all underserved communities in Los Angeles by 2023. With the help from LA2050, county and city officials, community partners, organizations, and families, we set our sights on serving over 50,000 kids each year and their families through Dodgers Dreamfields and Dodgers RBI.
With this award, we will change the landscape of Los Angeles for play and activate a community effort that is dedicated to fostering, building, and promoting infrastructure, as well as opportunities for play in Los Angeles. Within the next five years, we hope to not only get 100,000 Angelenos involved in play, but to remain committed to play initiatives in their community, by supporting the play movement of the future.
Our programs are truly bigger than baseball, and with the support of dedicated collaborators and community partners, we will promote PLAY in LA, for years to come!