GATEWAY, Fla. — Kids from Fort Myers in the Lee County Boys and Girls Club got a one of a kind opportunity on the field at Jet Blue Park Thursday night. Kids got the chance to spend time with the players they look up to.
Eighth grader Kaliyah Stephens is in the Boys and Girls Club of Lee County and has looked forward to this night for months.
She said, "I never thought I'd have an opportunity like this."
A night to remember with big league players, Stephens shared her appreciation for The Boys and Girls Club with Boston Red Sox players, ate dinner with them, and even went home with an autographed ball.
Stephens said her time with the major leaguers taught her how she can achieve what she wants in her life.
"Anything that's important to you, that you want to strive for, you can do it," the middle schooler said.
It's not just the kids who feel inspired, they players are too, like Brennan Bernardino.
He said, "I was a kid with the same dreams, and their dreams may not be baseball, it maybe being a doctor, being a teacher...Whatever you think you can do, if you put the work in, you can do it as yourself, and you don't have to be any specific person. Be you."
It took Bernardino ten years to get to the big leagues and wants kids like Stephens to know you might strike out before you hit a home run.
"The roads not always easy to get where you want to go…You can do whatever you put your mind too," Bernardino said.
