Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Boston’s Chief of Human Services/Boston Centers for Youth & Families(BCYF) Executive Director Daphne Griffin invite Boston youth to meet players and coaches from the Boston Red Sox organization and compete in a baseball skills session at the annual Red Sox Talks/Fenway Challenge during July and August.  The winners of each age division in the Fenway Challenge competition will receive two tickets to a Red Sox game in September and will be recognized on the field before the game!

Hosted by BCYF in conjunction with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the Sox Talks/Fenway Challenges are sponsored by the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Police Activities League.  Registration each day is at 9:30 a.m. followed by the Fenway Challenge, a skills competition in running, hitting and throwing for boys and girls ages 7-14.  At the completion of the Fenway Challenge, members of the Red Sox organization will arrive and work one-on-one with each youth on batting and pitching before speaking with the crowd.  It’s always a surprise who will show up, but there are usually several players and members of the coaching staff.

The schedule is as follows: Tuesday, July 17^th at Billings Field in West Roxbury; Thursday, July 19^th at Town Field in Dorchester; Tuesday, July 31^st at Moakley Park in South Boston; Friday, August 3^rd at the BCYF Recreation Center at Madison Park in Roxbury (baseball field behind Madison Park High School;) and Thursday, August 23^rd at Rogers Park in Brighton.

Equipment is provided.  Camps and summer programs are welcome to attend – bring your lunch and enjoy a day at the park.  To register a group, please call Mike Devlin at BCYF at 617-635-5206 x105 or e-mail him at Mike.Devlin@cityofboston.gov.  Check out our other great summer offerings at www.cityofboston.gov/bcyf.