Delucia Baseball Academy in Reading acquired by national training company
Delucia Baseball Academy in Reading has been acquired by ELI Sports, a national youth sports training company and Major League Baseball partner, EL1 announced in late October.
The acquisition supports the organization’s mission to create opportunities for kids to get involved in baseball and softball, and offer stable career paths for former athletes, according to EL1 representatives.
Rich Delucia, former owner of Delucia Baseball Academy, said he couldn’t have imagined his facility growing to support hundreds of kids when the academy opened in 2017.
“It has been a joy to serve the Reading community,” Delucia said in a press release. “Our partnership with EL1 will benefit our staff and each athlete that we work with. EL1 will provide necessary operational support, bring in additional trainers, and renovate our facility.”
The renovations will include improvements like painting, installing new turf and signage, enhancing netting systems, updating lighting systems, and adding pitching machines, according to Clint Fernandez, general manager at EL1 Reading.
EL1 will also feature technologies for tracking and measuring swings, ball speeds and hits, such as Rapsodo, Diamond Kinetics, and Hittrax, Fernandez said.
Delucia, a Wyomissing graduate and former Major League Baseball player, retains his involvement in the facility as lead instructor of EL1 Reading.
He said he was motivated to open a baseball training facility while working as a scout, following 16 years of playing professionally for teams like the Seattle Mariners.
“I wanted to create an organization that emphasized work ethic and provides a positive and productive environment for kids to improve their skills,” Delucia said. “Baseball is my life, I’ve been playing it since I was a child…There’s so much more to the game than what people see on TV, and I take great joy in passing on the insights and lessons I’ve gained.”
Investing in communities
EL1 believes in investing in people already deeply engaged with a community: People like Delucia, according to Frank Decembrino, vice president of business development at EL1.
“Rather than attempting to create an entirely new system from scratch, we recognize that the most effective way to make a difference in the sports world is by enhancing the experiences of the operators,” Decembrino said.
To that end, EL1 is deploying a suite of resources to maximize the player experience in Reading, including back-end operational support, increased camps, clinics, and lessons programming for individuals and teams, and new instructional and administrative technologies.
The organization also plans to bolster EL1’s staff — EL1 Reading currently employs seven — with additional trainers that have professional playing experience.
“We needed help with a lot of things, and EL1 is providing a support system to help us continue to grow as an organization,” Fernandez said. “This move is focused on making our facility the best possible location for kids to work out, and become better ballplayers, better teammates, and better people.”
MLB partnership
The facility will also benefit from EL1’s partnership with Major League Baseball, which began in 2022.
“EL1’s partnership with MLB includes the establishment or expansion of training academies and support for community or club-run baseball and softball programs at various levels,” Decembrino said. “We currently operate six Seattle Mariners Training Centers, two Dodgers Training Academies, and a Pirates Training Center. Our association with MLB can open doors for young athletes by offering them high-quality training facilities and several camps, clinics, and community outreach programs that all tie back to our mission to transform youth through sports.”
The MLB partnership enables EL1 to better assist players of all economic backgrounds, via EL1’s support for programs like Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, and the PLAY BALL program, a collaboration between Major League Baseball and the United States Conference of Mayors that aims to introduce the game to underserved populations, according to Decembrino.
“EL1 also offer scholarships to our seasonal camps throughout the year,” Decembrino noted. “We’re committed to working with our partners to make sure that every child has an opportunity to participate.”
EL1 operates 22 facilities nationwide, and seven in Pennsylvania, in Ambler, Conshohocken, Feasterville, Huntingdon Valley, Newtown Square, and the Pirates Training Center in Canonsburg.
The EL1 Reading facility is open to players of all ages and skill levels.
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