FORT MYERS, Fla. – Baseball brings together kids from cultures across the world. For a select few, the game is an outlet for a potential career in the professional ranks. For the majority of kids who grow up around the game, it’s a way to develop important life lessons that they can take as they become adults and can pass it on to their own children.
One participant taking part in the 13u PG Series Classic this week for Team Northeast is trying to transcend the game by contributing to society in an area that gets a lot of publicity for the wrong reasons.
One of four children to Nick and Teresa Delgado, Israel Delgado has only taken up the game of baseball the past four years, but one year ago a life-changing event took place that would shape the way he would use the game as a springboard to make a difference in the community.
One morning, Israel along with a friend went off to a baseball workout and encountered the friend’s cousin along with another boy and suggested they come along. The cousin and his friend declined, and after insisting on Israel’s friend to join them instead went their separate ways for the day.
It was later that afternoon that Israel and his friend found out the friend’s cousin was killed and the friend with the cousin was left wounded by shootings that have claimed hundreds of young lives in the Chicago area in recent years.
From that point forward, Israel wanted to find a way to help get kids off the streets by combining baseball and a conditioning program to build up individuals that need the help to better themselves physically, mentally and through the power of faith.
“We call the program, ‘The Grind,’ and it consists of completing workouts on the beaches of Lake Michigan and its something I’ve been doing with kids locally for the past 27 years,” Nick Delgado said. “When Israel wanted to start playing baseball I knew that he needed to get stronger, so we would use medicine balls, ropes, do plyometrics and he started seeing results. He came to me with the idea of getting kids to go through the same workouts and sell merchandise to buy those kids baseball equipment when they complete the program.”
The workout program consists of an eight-week plan that upon an individual graduating from it, they have to bring another kid to put them through the program and pass on their guidance to get their recruit through the program.
“It basically becomes a 16-week commitment, completing the program and then teaching whoever they bring how to complete the training,” Nick Delgado said. “Once they achieve that, we give them equipment depending on what they need, whether its a bat or a glove or even both.”
Israel came up with his own logo, and the number 53 has a special meaning as to the purpose of what his intentions are for IZO53.
“I’d always wear number 8, but for one team I was given 53 and it took me a little while to understand that it was a blessing,” Israel said. “Five stands for grace, three is for the Trinity which equals eight, a new beginning. That’s what I want to try and provide for kids to help them stay out of trouble.”
The merchandise IZO53 sells goes towards the purchases of the equipment for the kids that graduate from “The Grind,” and also assists children in need during the holidays. This past Thanksgiving, IZO53 was able to purchase 100 turkeys for families, and at Christmas time, they were able to buy gifts and give them to those that couldn’t afford to do so.
The Delgado’s are hoping to turn IZO53 into a bigger entity with a standalone facility in the next 2-5 years that can house the kids that go through “The Grind” and provide a place for them to learn and develop themselves through baseball or other sports.
“We’d like to be part of the rehabilitation process for kids that have been given up on and really give them a fresh start,” Teresa Delgado said.
“My wife and I, along with Israel are looking at how we can work this facility to house these kids and change their lives,” Nick Delgado added. “We'd like to have a 100-yard, four-lane sandpit in the back instead of having to go to the beach. Whether kids want to play baseball or football or whatever they want to do, we want to bring the right people in to assist us with that.”
As young as Israel is, on top of running and planning IZO53, the support system he has with his family will be pivotal to the continued efforts of the organization to try and getting more kids involved.
“They really do help me with everything, I can count on them to keep things balanced,” Israel said. “In the future, I want to get a team going to play in tournaments, but have the kids manage each other while having an adult supervising us. I want to try and expand IZO53 as I get older to try and reach as many kids as I possibly can.”
A partner of IZO53 is Stella’s Batting Cages in Chicago that helps sell IZO53 merchandise as they hope to get their name out to the community and attract more participants to the program.
“They’ve been great with us and it’s wonderful to have their support,” Nick Delgado said. “Currently we have 18 kids involved in the program, and we obviously want to try and expand to get more kids that need the guidance to make a difference in their lives. No matter how many people we can or cannot reach out to, we are doing something that really benefits the community.”
As impressive as what Israel is already doing off the field, his talent on the diamond is evident, as he has four doubles in nine at-bats through four games for Northeast as they sit at 3-1 through the three days of competition at the 13u PG Series Classic.
Nick was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates and played in their organization for seven years, along with playing independent ball, and is the cousin of former big-league slugger Carlos Delgado, so it’s logical to say baseball is in Israel Delgado’s blood. While baseball is something any 13-year old would want to be accomplished in and take their playing days as far as they can, Israel has already seen how he can turn the game into something that means a whole lot more than sheer statistics.
The outreach IZO53 has had and will hopefully continue to have has already shown itself how the desire and determination of an individual to make a difference in one of the roughest areas of America can come to fruition to improve the lives of others.
For more information on IZO53, visit http://www.izo53.com/index.html.