Texas Woman’s alumna Jesse Malone has a bulletin board at work that is full of Christmas cards, thank you notes, colorings from kids, graduation invites and team photos of various youth baseball and softball teams. 

“And they all go up on my wall to remind me of why we are here,” Malone said.

“Here” is the Texas Rangers MLB Youth Academy at Mercy Street Sports Complex presented by Toyota in West Dallas. Malone, who graduated from TWU in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, is the senior manager for the academy outreach and education programs. 

The youth academy is one of nine in Major League Baseball that provides free, year-round baseball and softball training to athletes from ages 7-18. Malone handles all the community outreach and education and scholarship programs for the academy. 

Malone is starting her 10th season with the Rangers. She started as a youth ballpark intern when she was a junior at TWU. She envisioned working for a team’s social media accounts but once she heard about the academy being built, she decided to get involved. As a senior, she interned with the academy in its inaugural year.