The Texas Rangers Youth Academy held its annual Holiday party, hosted by Neil Leibman and family, earlier this week, Thursday, Dec. 13.

Leibman, the club’s President of Business Operations and Chief Operating Officer, and Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation Chairman, hosts the celebration each year in conjunction with the Rangers Foundation to provide Youth Academy athletes and their families with toys and gifts for the holiday season.

As part of the celebration, Rangers Executive Vice President and General Manager Chris Young and his wife, Liz, gifted the 135 families in attendance baskets filled with blankets, towels and other household supplies such as dish soap, laundry detergent, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

This year’s festivities also featured an appearance from Rangers All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien, who spent the evening passing out gifts, posing for photos and spending time with young ballplayers and their families.

Quick Hits

Six Rangers Youth Academy athletes selected to USA Softball’s 2024 HPP National Selection Event

• What it is: Six softball players from the Rangers Youth Academy were selected to participate in USA Softball’s 2024 High Performance Program (HPP) National Selection Event hosted in Vero Beach, Fla., from Dec. 12-15. Destan Burks, Amira Forbit, Alyssa Summers, Meagan Robles, Juliet Amparan and Joleigh Richards will showcase their skills in a series of on-field evaluations and scrimmages in hopes of being selected to the U18 United States Junior Women’s National Team roster.
• Why it matters: These six Youth Academy athletes will be instructed and observed by the U.S. Junior Women’s National Team Selection Committee – which includes U.S. Olympians and professional softball athletes – and HPP evaluators. The top performers from the National Selection Event will potentially receive an invitation to a National Team trial.

All Elite Wrestling partners with Rangers to donate more than 15,000 toys to Dallas-Forth Worth families

• All In for DFW: All Elite Wrestling has partnered with Jazwares and REV Entertainment, the official events partner of the Texas Rangers, to donate 15,000+ toys to the DFW community this holiday season. AEW provided toy action figures to the Youth Academy Holiday Party and the Mission Arlington Christmas Store.
• Gray Wolf Gives Back: On Thursday, AEW star Bobby Lashley joined Texas Rangers pitcher Jon Gray at Mission Arlington to take part in a toy donation.
• Go Deeper: AEW is bringing its signature event – AEW All In: Texas – to Globe Life Field on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Tickets are on sale now at AEWTix.com.

Education & Buckner International programming

The Texas Rangers MLB Youth Academy goes beyond baseball and softball programming to benefit our community. With help from our partner Bucker International, the Academy hosts free education and enrichment courses for athletes and their families throughout the year.

Register here for all Youth Academy classes.