Academy Notebook: Coach spotlight: Larkin Heldt; Fall programming comes to a close; Girls Baseball Breakthrough Series recap

Coach spotlight: Larkin Heldt

An afternoon drive down Hampton Road in West Dallas led Larkin Heldt to the Texas Rangers Youth Academy, a place he would soon call home.

“What happens there,” Heldt thought as he drove by the diamonds lining the road, noticing the turf fields and Texas Rangers logos.

After moving to Dallas, the long-time player who had recently finished his four years on the Georgetown College baseball team wanted a way to keep the sport in his life.

“I got in contact with Juan [Leonel Gárciga], came in to interview and as he was telling me about the way that they give back here — that’s where I wanted to be,” he said. “I wanted to be part of something like this, where kids who may not get the opportunity [to play] elsewhere, now this sport is something that they can have.”

While Heldt was fortunate enough to be involved in the sport, never worried about finding an opportunity to play or having the financial means to partake, growing up surrounded by friends in different situations inspired him to give back to the community.

Heldt works every day to impact each athlete that steps on the diamond, modeling his coaching style after his favorite coach, his dad.

“My dad coached me through high school, so my friends still look at him as a coach,” he said. “Seeing them look up to him like that is fun for me, and it's something where I hope that these kids go home, and they talk about coach Larkin.

“I know my friends will bring up stories about my dad from practice, and it's stories I don’t even remember, but to them, it stuck, so I hope that the kids here have that as well.”

In his second year at the Texas Rangers Youth Academy, Heldt is already noticing his impact on these young athletes.

“I've been around long enough to see kids commit to colleges,” he said. “I think that's one of the most fun things for me. And now, we have kids who are D1 commits coming here, and we have a kid who has never picked up a baseball. No matter what skill level, our coaches do a good job of coaching anybody at every level.

“Looking around right now, I don't look the same as Dash [Johnson], and I think that's one of the most fun things about the Academy — our coaches represent the group of kids that come out,” he added. “Not just skin tone, but we have a diverse group of guys. Miguel's [Lopez] a dad, Roger’s [Ibarra] in school and this group of people all came together to run this thing, and obviously, you do it for the kids, but it's fun for me as well.”

When Heldt drives by the Texas Rangers Youth Academy today, he knows exactly what to expect. People often question how the Youth Academy offers so many opportunities to families a no cost — coach Larkin Heldt is one piece of the puzzle that makes the Youth Academy a life-changing place.

Fall programming ends

Fall baseball and softball programming at the Texas Rangers Youth Academy officially ended yesterday, Nov. 18, with the final night of high school programming. For the past ten weeks, the Texas Rangers Youth Academy has trained 471 North Texas athletes ages 7-18.

Participants split into training groups for specialized coaching based on age and skill level, ranging from beginner to advanced. This year, 18U athletes were separated from the 12U and 9U sessions to allow for hands-on training and specialized drills. A total of 320 high school athletes trained at the Academy to prepare for the upcoming spring season.

The Rangers Youth Academy coaches taught athletes of all ages to improve in every aspect of the game, from baserunning and throwing, to strike zone recognition and how to turn the perfect double play.

Training will resume in January with the winter session, once again offering athletes from across the DFW Metroplex a chance to improve their baseball and softball skills at no cost.

Girls Baseball Breakthrough Series

Last weekend the Texas Rangers Youth Academy played host to the third annual Girls Baseball Breakthrough Series.

The four-day event, which began Thursday, Nov. 11, saw 32 of the top female baseball players from around the U.S. train with MLB & MiLB Coaches, members of the USA Baseball Women’s National Team and former Major Leaguers. Members of the coaching staff included Major League assistant strength & conditioning coach of the Miami Marlins Amanda Sartoris, USA Baseball WNT Manager and Oakland A’s Minor League coach Veronica Alvarez, former Major Leaguers LaTroy Hawkins and Cliff Floyd and several players from the USA Baseball Women’s National Team.

Also on the coaching staff was Minor League player development coach for the Boston Red Sox, Bianca Smith. In 2017, Smith worked as a youth baseball coach at the Texas Rangers Youth Academy. In her first visit back to the West Dallas Academy in nearly four years, Smith was happy to be home and train the next generation of ballplayers.

The girls began each day training at Youth Academy, followed by classroom tutoring sessions and discussions about college recruitment and women in coaching. In the afternoon, the girls competed in exhibition-style games at Choctaw Stadium, formerly known as Globe Life Park.

At the end of the series, each girl returned home a better athlete with a new outlook on the game and an unforgettable experience shared with friends.