Husband-wife team anchors city youth baseball league

On one of the many days that rain soaked area baseball fields this spring, Gaither Beard got in his car and made the 20-minute drive from his home in Glen Allen to the sandlot field at Chandler Middle School in Richmond's North Side.

Baseball was out of the question, but still he made the trip because he knew what he'd find when he pulled up: a couple of dedicated players hanging around under a covered area near the old field.

This is the 74-year-old man for whom they wait -- even if the field is too wet -- and the man who after practice and games and rainouts piles some of them into his car and drives them home, knocking on doors and staying with them until he knows someone is home.

The man who, along with his wife, Rebecca, and precious few volunteers, keeps the North Richmond Little League going. And ferries players to a seemingly endless calendar of away games because they don't have a field suitable to play at home. And buys them meals and shoes. And gratefully accepts donated equipment for them to use. And hardly ever collects a $15 registration fee.

The husband-wife team does so much financially and otherwise for the 70-or-so kids in the league that North Richmond parent Randy Dorsey says they ought to be able "to claim them on their taxes."

Rebecca's title is president of the league, which this season included five teams of kids ages 5 to 15, but she's just as much a mother figure, confidante, recruiter and chauffeur.

Gaither is everything else -- coach, counselor, father figure, equipment man. He didn't have an umpire for one of the few home games the league had this spring, so he put on the mask and protective gear, got behind the plate and did that, too.

They are among the lighthouse keepers of inner-city youth baseball. This has been their purpose for 22 seasons in the North Richmond Little League.

They've had some success as they traveled to play other leagues. They've helped produce high school players and a dozen or so college players. But that's the small measure.

The retired educators use their program to teach a sport that lags in popularity among blacks. And to drive home the importance of respect, discipline and education. And to get kids off the streets.

"We could easily take our son somewhere else," Yvette Dorsey said. "But it's Coach Beard and the things he teaches. I just want to be where my son says, 'I played for Coach Beard.'"

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Gaither's father, a sharecropper in Halifax County, moved his family to Richmond when Gaither was a youngster. His father was shot and killed shortly after the move.

Gaither found father figures and his calling as he played sports at a nearby community center.

"I felt the pain of not having a father," he said. "I wanted to be like those guys because they played a big role in my life. I just wanted to help youngsters like they helped me."

Gaither played football at Armstrong High and Virginia Union, then went into social work. He wasn't helping people quite the way he wanted, so he became a teacher. That's where he met Rebecca, who was observing his classes while working at another school in Richmond.

Gaither also worked with the city's Parks and Recreation Department. He coached football, basketball and baseball at Battery Park. He gravitated to baseball because he wanted kids to have a summer sport.

Rebecca didn't always share her husband's passion for coaching. But with Gaither gone so much, she started going to Battery Park to spend time with him. Soon, she was doing arts and crafts and developing a homework program.

Then their son, Lamont, started playing baseball, and she was hooked. Their grandson, 9-year-old L.B., plays now.

"I just feel like this is what I'm supposed to do," said Rebecca, who has returned to the city school system. "If children want to learn, I'll do anything in the world to help them."

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The Beards and other volunteers formed North Richmond Little League in 1988. At times, it has been a struggle to survive.

They sold donuts and chocolate candy during the early years to raise money. Other leagues, companies and individuals gave money and equipment.

"People have just been very, very nice," Rebecca said.

In 2000, North Richmond was tapped for Little League's Urban Initiative program, which provides assistance in getting equipment and developing fields. A sporting goods company delivered $2,500 worth of gear.

"I admire them," said Gail Turner, the administrator for Virginia District 5 Little League, which includes Richmond. "Whatever money they can't raise, they pay for out of their pocket.

"They see something in those children that a lot of people are ignoring."

The football and baseball fields at Battery Park are named after Gaither Beard. But facilities remain an issue for North Richmond.

When the league started playing interleague games several years ago, Battery Park didn't meet Little League standards. So North Richmond traveled to Ashland, Highland Springs, Tuckahoe, Goochland, Caroline and other places to play games.

Flooding around Battery Park from Tropical Storm Ernesto displaced the league to the open playground field behind Chandler for the 2007 season. That doesn't meet Little League standards, either.

An upgraded Battery Park should be ready for play next season. And Gaither said North Richmond has been given grants totaling $310,000 from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the Robins Foundation for a new field behind Chandler. The Beards hope Richmond City Council will approve it this fall.

Gaither believes a first-rate facility would raise the number of kids in the program. North Richmond has had as many as 100 players.

"The inner-city child seems to prefer basketball over other sports," he said. "They're involved in basketball all year. They don't get a chance to find out if they're good in other sports."

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Across the blacktop from a pickup basketball game, a group of baseball players that will number about 30 is waiting as Gaither arrives for practice. He goes to a storage area and brings out gloves, bats, balls and a pitching machine.

With the help of Stevenson Fox, who has assisted Gaither since the early days of the league, he conducts practices for two teams in the infield and outfield while a third team waits. He has two other coaches, Jonathan Washington and Dwayne Johnson, who are not on hand this day.

Gaither lines up the younger players on a bench and stresses the importance of not talking while he's talking.

"It's not just baseball," said Shadameen Taylor, a 14-year-old catcher who started playing four years ago. "He teaches us how to be respectful."

Without baseball, Shadameen said, he'd "probably be somewhere being bored -- or doing negative things."

North Richmond's season ended several weeks ago. Shadameen still comes to the old field behind Chandler, along with a few others, because he knows Gaither Beard will be there to give him individual instruction.

"I look at this as part of my church," Gaither said. "The building I go to on Sunday morning is a building we just go to fellowship. I believe the church is within you, and you should take the church everywhere you go, and you should help your fellow man."