July 23, 2009

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. (By Jacki Raithel) - Spider Baseball second-baseman Chris Cuppia opted not to play summer league this year, instead choosing to spend his summer working for and with a team of high school baseball players in inner-city Atlanta, Ga.

The Ambassadors -- the team Cuppia volunteers with -- is a competitive travel team that represents L.E.A.D., a non-profit organization founded by former Chicago Cub CJ Stewart. Stewart began the program in 2007, with the intensions of working to revitalize the presence of African Americans in baseball and provide opportunities for hard-working but underprivileged baseball players to earn college scholarships.

Working with L.E.A.D. is demanding and although Cuppia's schedule changes depending on the Ambassador's game schedule, most weeks he puts in 40 hours of work. In addition to helping coach, he also writes game summaries and spends time talking with donors on a regular basis.

Cuppia, who will enter his senior year with the Spiders this fall, said that Stewart had been a mentor to him for almost eight years and he credited his place at Richmond largely to help of Stewart.

"He was always in the background giving me encouragement and building my confidence," Cuppia said. "Even to this day, if I am struggling in baseball and I cannot seem to find the answers, he always makes time for my phone call. ... I wanted to return the favor. Just as going to a great school had been one of my dreams, L.E.A.D has been one of CJ's dreams. For everything that the Stewarts have given me, I felt as though this is the least that I can do to help."

The Ambassador program is more than just a talented ball team - in addition to being selected for talent, Ambassadors are selected based on character, and are required to provide teacher recommendations in order to be considered. Once they're on the team, Ambassadors are required to maintain their grades and attend lectures and seminars, as well as performing community service. Ambassadors don't pay to be a part of the program, their community service is considered payment, Cuppia said.

So far, Cuppia said it's been a learning experience for both him and the Ambassador players. He has learned from the tremendous sacrifices of the players and their families in order to be a part of the program, and was amazed at the way that everyone involved was so willing to help. He said he had rarely, if ever, seen any one of the players take the opportunity to play for the Ambassadors for granted.

"I have also never seen a team come together as quickly as this one has," Cuppia said. "If anyone is unsure of what the definition of a true teammate is, I invite them to come and watch these guys."

Although Cuppia said he doesn't know where he'll end up after college, he said he planned to stay involved in L.E.A.D., whether coaching or supporting the program financially.

"Building a stronger community is invaluable and something that we all benefit from," he said.

Stewart seems to have recognized Cuppia's philanthropic spirit all along.

"Chris has been a strong supporter of L.E.A.D. since we started back in 2007," Stewart said. "It was no surprise to me when he called and volunteered his time to the organization this summer; that's just the kind of person Chris is."

Under Stewart's direction, L.E.A.D. supports a team of high-caliber inner-city ball players and this fall will launch an instructional baseball league to broaden L.E.A.D.'s impact in inner-city Atlanta. Last year, 11 of the 13 L.E.A.D. Ambassadors received college scholarships.