Lanzadores Del Futuro Program Expands Access to Little League Baseball

Community News

Mexico, El Paso, Texas, foundation
Players in youth leagues assisted by the Lanzadores Del Futuro program have opportunities to attend baseball clinics run by members of Mexico’s baseball hall of fame.

Key points:

  • More low-income children in Mexico are getting financial assistance to play organized baseball and take part in clinics run by members of the country’s baseball hall of fame.
  • The Lanzadores Del Futuro initiative recently expanded into Juárez with support from Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s ARCO® retail brand in Mexico.
  • The youth baseball leagues that this program assists are affiliated with the tournament that determines Mexico’s representative in the annual Little League Baseball World Series.

Playing in a future Little League Baseball® World Series (LLBWS) may be closer to reality for more young boys in Mexico with the expansion of a program supported by Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) ARCO® retail brand in the country. 

“MPC has extended the Lanzadores Del Futuro (LDF) - Spanish for ‘pioneers of the future’ – initiative to two youth baseball leagues in Juárez, funding opportunities for more children to play,” said V.J. Smith, Principal Corporate Social Responsibility & Community Relations  Representative at MPC’s El Paso, Texas, refinery. “We are excited to bring this program to Juárez, El Paso’s sister city across the border.” 

Local and regional dignitaries joined MPC representatives to celebrate the expansion of the Lanzadores Del Futuro program. Representing MPC: (far left) Cruz Del Castillo, Lead Territory Manager; (fifth from left, gray shirt) Joe Mendoza, El Paso refinery Environmental Supervisor; (far right) Eduardo Cruz, Marketing Analyst; (second from right) Armando Villarreal Fernandez, Lead Territory Manager; (fourth from right) Leonardo Giron, Mexico Commercial Director; and (fifth from right) V.J. Smith, Principal Corporate Social Responsibility & Community Relations Representative.

Launched in 2023, LDF provides baseball clinics run by members of Mexico’s baseball hall of fame, improvements to youth league baseball fields, new baseball equipment and scholarships that cover fees for low-income players who demonstrate academic achievement, allowing them to join local leagues. The leagues the program assists are affiliated with Little League Baseball of Mexico, which conducts the tournament that determines Mexico’s representative in the annual LLBWS in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

"We realized this partnership could help us benefit local communities by providing young people with inspirational experiences they might not get any other way."

To date, the baseball clinics have involved more than 600 youth across the cities of Monterrey, Mexico City, Hermosillo and Obregon. Additional clinics were held in Juárez as part of announcing LDF’s expansion into the city. 

(L-R) Mexico Commercial Director Leonardo Giron and Lead Territory Manager Cruz Del Castillo attend a little league baseball game in Juárez as part of the formal announcement about expanding the LDF program into the city.

“Our brand’s involvement is part of a larger marketing partnership with the ARCO Mexican Pacific League, a professional winter baseball league that’s based in northwestern Mexico,” said Mexico Commercial Director Leonardo Giron. “With our retail footprint in this same region, we realized this partnership could help us benefit local communities by providing young people with inspirational experiences they might not get any other way.”

MPC, through Tesoro Mexico, has more than 230 ARCO and 50 TESORO™ branded stations across the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Nuevo Leon, Queretaro and Guanajuato. Tesoro Mexico also markets fuel products to unbranded retail sites and other companies for industrial purposes.

The Lanzadores Del Futuro program provides scholarships that make it possible for low-income children to play as well as investments to improve baseball fields and purchase new baseball equipment.
The LDF program assists youth leagues that are affiliated with Little League Baseball of Mexico, which conducts the tournament that determines Mexico’s representative in the annual Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.