The 2023 Hank Aaron Invitational ends a busy Hank Aaron Week

BY MENRA MAPFUMO

Hank Aaron Week came to a triumphant conclusion on Sunday, July 30, with the Hank Aaron Invitational. The invitational, which was played at Truist park, is put on by Major League Baseball-Major League Baseball Players Association (MLB-MLBPA) Youth Development Foundation (YDF).

Every year 250 of the top high school baseball players in the nation are invited to compete, become better athletes and even better young men at the Jackie Robinson training complex in Vero Beach, FL.

While at the training complex, players receive instruction and coaching from former MLB players within the MLBPA.

Out of the 250 players, 44 of those players are chosen to compete in the Hank Aaron Invitational. Twenty-two players represent Team Jackie Robinson and the other 22 represent Team Hank Aaron.

The Hank Aaron Invitational was previously known as the Elite Development Invitational, however, in 2019, the invitational was renamed to honor the legacy of former Atlanta Braves great and Baseball Hall of Fame inducteenHank Aaron. That same year, players were fortunate enough to meet Hank Aaron, and compete in front of him.

“I think Hank’s dream was to give a kid an opportunity to learn and play the game and to really give them an opportunity to do their very very best at what they are good at,” expressed former Atlanta Brave, Marquis Grissom.

Since 2019, there have been 40 alumni of the invitational, including three from this year’s roster, who have been selected in the MLB draft.

In fact, Atlanta Braves center fielder and 2022 Jackie Robinson National League Rookie of the Year, Michael Harris II, is an alumni of the Hank Aaron Invitational.

MLB Hall of Famer and Special Advisor to the Executive Director of the MLBPA, Dave Winfield, estimated since the creation of the Invitational in 2015, “We have probably coached and worked with a minimum of 750 to 1,000 kids. We have impacted the trajectory of their baseball involvement,” said Winfield. Participants shared what they learned during their time in the invitational.

“This invitational helps you make long term relationships, especially with the coaches,” said Justyn Hart. “The more you grow and the more you excel in this sport you are going to see them down the road. You are going to have that long term relationship that you made back when you were in high school at the invitational.”

Bruce Wyche said, “I learned to stick to your approach and stick to what got you here. As a person, just staying humble and staying level headed. We learned a lot about Hank Aaron and one of the things they kept saying was how humble he was, and I feel like that is very important.”

The Hank Aaron Invitational is played in Truist Park to honor Hank Aaron’s legacy and his career with the Braves. The Invitational also honors the careers of former Braves like Bill Lucas, who spent over 20 years in the Braves organization and was the first African American General Manager in MLB history; Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff, who was inducted in this year's Hall of Fame Class and won the World Series with the Braves in 1995; Ron Gant, Ralph Garr, Cito Gaston, and many others.

Reggie Waller, a consultant on behalf of the MLBPA and former minor leaguer, addressed the role of Hank Aaron Invitational in MLB’s effort to build diversity.

“I think more than anything else is visibility. It has gotten to a point where they said that there are no young Black players, and we know that is just not the case,” said Waller. “The players are out there. It is now just a matter of making sure that we highlight that and help afford opportunities for them to get into college and for MLB organizations to become familiar with who they are. That is the main thing. We provide hope, that is what the Hank Aaron Invitational does.”

Kindu Jones, the Senior Coordinator of Baseball Development for MLB, added, “Obviously, the goal is to identify players of color, most importantly the African American players. That is only going to help us enhance our game on the field level, but then, also, we discuss the other avenues that are in the game such as my role, my supervisor's role, our security staff’s role. We try to expose those guys to those other avenues to let them know that there is life after baseball.”

Fulton County Advertisement For Proposal

Sealed proposals for 23RFP139069K-BKJ - Project Management Software for the Fulton County Public Works Department, will be accepted by the Fulton County Department of Purchasing & Contract Compliance, electronically through Bidnet Direct at https://www.bidnetdirect.com/ georgia/fultoncounty, on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, no later than 11:00 a.m. local (Eastern) time on the stated date. Proposers names will be publicly read at 11:05 a.m. on the stated due date via Zoom.

Proposal Bond: N/A

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Scope of Work: Fulton County Government (“County”) is seeking a qualified firm to provide a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution to fulfill the project management needs of the county. This requested solution should also be flexible enough to manage projects of other disciplines and departments of the county adjusting for scope and purpose as needed. To achieve this flexibility, a

Technical

Cisco Systems, Inc. is accepting resumes for multiple positions in Atlanta/ Alpharetta/Lawrenceville, GA: Business Systems Analyst (Ref#: ATL112C): Optimize operational efficiency and develop systemic process solutions. Telecommuting permitted. Business Systems Analysis Manager (Ref#: ATL153C): Analyze business requirement to configure rule management and define systems solution. Telecommuting permitted. Site Reliability Engineer (Ref#: ATL178C): Design, implement and operate global network to improve the functionality, reliability, availability, and manageability of the company’s internal sites. Telecommuting permitted. Systems Architect

(Ref#: ATL410C): Provide business-level guidance to the account team fully scalable SaaS solution is required. Currently, Fulton County uses the Oracle-based Primavera Contract Management and P6 enterprise applications. The data from Primavera and P6 will need to be migrated from its current state and location into the SaaS solution chosen by Fulton County. Through the issuance of this Request for Proposal (“RFP” and/or “Proposals”), the County is soliciting efforts from qualified Proposers to provide a SaaS solution to fulfill the project management needs of Fulton County including the migration of data from the currently used project management enterprise application software into the chosen SaaS solution.

The detailed scope of work and technical specifications are outlined in the Scope of Work, Section 3 of this proposal document. In order to obtain complete information about this solicitation, please click the link below where this document and supporting documents on technology trends and competitive threats, both at a technical and business level. Telecommuting permitted. Technical Consulting Engineer

(Ref#: ATL101C): Responsible for providing technical support regarding the company’s proprietary systems and software. Telecommuting permitted.

Technical Project Manager (Ref#: ATL416C): Responsible for defining IT project requirements, plans, schedules, and resources for small to large/ complex projects. Telecommuting permitted. Please email resumes including position’s reference number in subject line to Cisco Systems, Inc. at amsjobs@cisco.com. No phone calls please. Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship. EOE. www.cisco.com can be downloaded, https://www.bidnetdirect. com/georgia/fultoncounty

Fee: N/A

Term of Contract: 1 Year

A Pre-Proposal Conference, will be held via Zoom on Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 10:30 a.m., local time, to provide proposers with information regarding the project and to address any questions.

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom. us/s/91788804212?pwd=OGszcENMOUh6SEdoTHVPMFFCeHJ6QT09 Passcode: 162473

Registration Required https://zoom.us/webinar/ register/WN_eKQFIbaIR6qFaFiwKtWuhA

If you have any questions regarding this project please contact Brian K. Jones, APA, at Email: brian.jones@fultoncountyga.gov

Fulton County reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals and to waive technicalities.

Free Job Training

The Environmental Protection Agency is o ering this program to train local residents for environmental jobs. This program will provide participants with multiple certi cations at no charge and prepare them for careers in environmental cleanup work.

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