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League of Dreams

The historic flood of 2008 had a devastating impact on our community. Businesses and homes were lost. Quite possibly the most impacted group was the children of families that were already struggling to get by even before the flood took everything from them. It was through this despair that the League of Dreams youth baseball program was established.

The Optimist League of Dreams is an instructional, non-competitive, coach-pitch league originally open to second and third grade students from ten area grade schools in Linn County. This joint venture between Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, Perfect Game, Rawlings, and the Cedar Rapids Parks & Recreation Department has positively impacted thousands of children over the past 10+ years.  With the generosity of the Optimist Club of Cedar Rapids (Tuesday Noon), the program was expanded to fourth and fifth graders at Prospect Meadows in 2019.  Now each year, the entire league of 2nd-5th graders is played at Prospect Meadows.

 

The Optimist Club of Cedar Rapids (Tuesday Noon), whose motto is "Friend of Youth" and the Optimist Foundation of Cedar Rapids, has donated $100,000 and have received naming rights to the League of Dreams Field at Prospect Meadows.  The League of Dreams at Prospect Meadows played all their games on the Optimist Club of Cedar Rapids Field in 2019 when the league expanded to fourth and fifth graders.  Optimist Field at Prospect Meadows will continue to be the primary field for the Optimist League of Dreams.

The Optimist League of Dreams is also funded through the generosity of numerous individuals through the Prospect Meadows Giving Tuesday crowd funding campaign.  The first Tuesday after Thanksgiving is a world wide day of charity known as Giving Tuesday.  With the generous support of many individuals, we were able to raise $18,200 for the 2023 Optimist League of Dreams season!  If you are interested in supporting the Optimist League of Dreams, visit our crowd fund page.

We are now accepting registrations for the 2024 season!  Click the link below to get registered!

All League of Dreams games and practices are on the Optimist Field at Prospect Meadows.  Start time each day is 5:30 PM unless otherwise noted.

  • May 20 - Practice
  • May 22 - Practice
  • May 29 - Games
  • June 3 - Games
  • June 5 - Games
  • June 10 - Games
  • June 12 - Games
  • June 17 - Games
  • June 19 - Games
  • June 24 - Games
  • June 26 - Games
  • July 1 - Games
  • July 3 - Games
  • July 8 - Make up night

League of Dreams night at the Kernels - TBA
All-Star Game @ Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium - TBA