Iowa's Field of Dreams to host youth game
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A pair of 14U teams representing Chicago and New York City will square off in a special exhibition game in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 11 -- the eve of the Yankees-White Sox showdown in the "MLB at Field of Dreams Presented by GEICO."
The 14U game, featuring teams from DREAM and the Amateur City Elite (ACE) programs, will take place on the iconic corn-stalk field at the fan-favorite tourist destination from the 1989 film, "Field of Dreams." It will be broadcast live on FS1 at 6 p.m. ET.
The New York club will come from DREAM, an organization that was founded in 1991 as "Harlem RBI." At that time, a group of volunteers transformed an abandoned lot into two baseball diamonds for youth in East Harlem. DREAM now serves more than 2,500 children across East Harlem and the South Bronx, providing a network of charter schools ranging from Pre-K through 12th grade, as well as community sports-based youth development programs.
• Gaze at the grandeur! Iowa's Field of Dreams
The Chicago team, the White Sox created the ACE youth baseball program in 2007 with the intention of providing quality baseball instruction as well as mentorship opportunities -- both on and off the field -- to young athletes from Chicago's underserved communities. ACE features more than 150 participants each year at various age levels, and 94 ACE alums have gone on to play Division I college baseball -- and 26 have been selected in the MLB Draft.
After the teams from DREAM and ACE go head to head, the players and coaches from both clubs will attend the "MLB at Field of Dreams" game between the White Sox and Yankees the following day. That contest will be played at a temporary ballpark built by MLB adjacent to the movie site. It has a potential capacity of 8,000 fans.