IL Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Jacksonville to Host Inaugural Aaron-Andrews Classic Tournament

Published on May 12, 2022 under International League (IL)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp News Release


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The city of Jacksonville and Jumbo Shrimp will host the inaugural Aaron-Andrews Classic Tournament introduced by The Hank Aaron Sports Academy in conjunction with world-renowned surgeon Dr. James "Jim" Andrews on May 28-29, 2022.

The inaugural tournament is the first of six such tournaments throughout the southeast (Pensacola, Fla., Montgomery, Ala., Birmingham, Ala., Biloxi, Miss., and Jackson/Pearl, Miss.) during the summer. Each tournament focuses on combining rec baseball with travel baseball with a focus on underserved and overlooked youth in each MiLB community.

"The Jumbo Shrimp are honored work with the Aaron-Andrews Classic" said Jumbo Shrimp Executive Vice President/General Manager Harold Craw. "The vision of the tournament and goal of the organizations involved aligns with our goal to make baseball accessible to all in our community and we look forward to continuing to spread our love for fun and the game of baseball to everyone in Jacksonville."

Each tournament, including the inaugural one in Jacksonville, is accompanied with $25,000 in scholarships, which allows up to 30 recreation and/or minority team to participate at no cost. Thanks to the Hank Aaron Sports Academy and Dr. Andrews, all costs for operation of the event, including umpires, baseballs, game day workers, rents, travels and administration.

"What we are doing is consistent with the vision that Mr. Henry "Hank" Aaron had, to make this game available to every child and family regardless of their social or financial positioning in each of these communities," Hank Aaron Sports Academy Tim Bennett said. "Hank came from very humble beginnings and if not given the chance to play the game he and so many other American's love, what a loss that would have been not only to the sport but to our society. Unfortunately, many of the families and youth that make up our communities are getting priced out of participation, so we are matching that challenge head on by eliminating one of the largest costs, entry fees."

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