Lost Boyz Inc.

88% of parents surveyed agreed that we helped prevent their child from becoming a victim of youth violence

The organization was founded in 2009 by LaVonte Stewart, an area resident, who felt a call to action after witnessing antisocial behavioral patterns increasingly impact local youth. Having experienced firsthand the profound impact baseball can have on a child’s development, LaVonte rallied the community around organized youth baseball. In 2014, Lost Boyz observed this persistent pattern affecting young ladies as well. There we extended our service to include girls. Our programs include both girls and boys.

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Our mission is to provide sports-based youth developmentto help boys and girls in Chicago’s under-resourced neighborhoods developconfidence, resilience, and life skills.

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At Lost Boyz, we provide instruction, training, and the competition of organized baseball and softball to youths who are not as likely exposed to the game and its many disciplines. We use this platform to influence and impact their lives, resulting in character development, positive output, and good decision making.

We currently serve up to youths ages 4-24 from the Chicago South Shore neighborhood. In an area of just 2.93 square miles, Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood ranks in the top 20% among Chicago’s 77 community areas for violent crime reports. In this neighborhood, 31.5% of residents live below the poverty level as compared to 18.7% city wide.

In the fall of 2019, we added two additional baseball teams geared towards youth boys ages 12-14. These teams are based in the predominantly Hispanic, low-income neighborhoods of Pilsen and Humboldt Park.