For Jamall Kinard, The California Winter League Offers More Than Just On-Field Opportunities
By Bobby Ward
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.- With the California Winter League coming to a close, players are coming to the end of the road of their month-long journey in Palm Springs. While some players still look to get signed, others have found success outside of their play on the baseball diamond.
Jamall Kinard, a twenty-seven year old infielder from South Carolina, is one of those players. Kinard’s story is similar to most players in the CWL: a former All-State player in high school, Kinard was a star at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina. He set school records for hits and steals and eventually went on to graduate from Gardner-Webb with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.
Kinard’s career in baseball continued after college when he received an invite to spring training with the Philadelphia Phillies, eventually earning him a spot in the Frontier League with the Mid-West Sliders. However, shortly after, Kinard suffered a severe shoulder injury to his labrum temporarily stalling his baseball career.
However, Kinard’s story does have an aspect that differentiates him from the standard talented baseball player. Despite the injury, he still found a way to affect sports off the field. Kinard works as a dropout prevention counselor for a non-profit organization called Communities In Schools. From his work with CIS, Jamal birthed an idea that would not only change his life, but the lives of other young athletes, a non-profit anti-doping program called “Know UR Why.”
“I felt like I could have been a much better athlete if I had the mental side of sports. I had all the gifts physically but it was the mental game that I failed at day in and day out.” Said Kinard. In December of 2011, Kinard used his connections through CIS to submit his idea for Know UR Why to a contest through Discovery Education and United States Anti Doping Agency. The result: A $2,500 dollar grant to get Know UR Why on its feet.
If you go to the Know UR Why website the mission statement describes the program as a program that, “provides youth with knowledge of how to obtain consistent natural “highs“ of success through quality decision making based on purposeful living, physical activity, education, and ethics; Not Doping! The Know UR Why program educates students about the importance of gaining accurate knowledge and skills to compete on “high” levels in both sports and in life.”
As for the name of the program, well Kinard’s story for that is fascinating as well.
“In the Declaration of Independence they spell ‘happiness’ with a ‘y.’ So I did my research and found out they spelled it that way because people have to find out why they want to be happy, and without that ‘y’ there’s no way that you can become happy.”
The program did not stop there. After Kinard started Know UR Why in 2013, he got possibly the biggest bolster to the program. In 2014, Adidas and the RG3 foundation donated $10,000 dollars to Know UR Why developing it into the organization that it is today helping hundreds of teenagers around the country with various professional athletes, such as Oakland Radiers linebacker Omar Gaither, contributing to its cause.
“(The donation) meant the world to me. It showed me that if I’m obedient and continue to work hard then it will help me out and I can become an example of my own organization,” says Kinard. “The program and the donation helped me come out to California and participate in the California Winter League.”
Kinard has also been able to apply the Know UR Why principle to his teammates at the CWL.
“I have been able to talk with some of the other players about the organization as well apply the purpose of the Know UR Why to help them remind them of their ‘why’ here at the California Winter League.”
Kinard’s team, the Coachella Valley Snowbirds, is heading to the finals on Saturday with a chance to play in the championship game on Sunday. While Kinard continues on with his baseball career, it is refreshing to see someone who has provided an outlet for young athletes who are susceptible to the pressure of upper-tier sports.
