Anyone who's recently dipped a toe into sports card collecting knows two things for sure: The dominant hobby of your childhood is very much still alive and thriving, and there's a lot to be learned about real-world economics from dabbling in splashy cardboard. Ahead of the National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemont, Ill., from July 30-Aug. 3, former MLB All-Star and current TBS personality Curtis Granderson, as well as collector and spokesman Samuel Evans, are launching an initiative prepared to teach those all-important lessons to young fans through a familiar framework.
Granderson and Evans joined The Baseball Insiders ahead of the Youth Collectors Club Initiative's launch event at Curtis Granderson Stadium at the CBEA headquarters at the University of Illinois on Thursday, July 10. At the event, 50 high school-aged kids will be given a starter pack of cards and a lesson in Card Trading 101 to kick off the National in style, as Granderson and Evans put the rules of the game into action to teach life lessons on entrepreneurship, financial literacy and, equally important, the love of the hobby.
"We use baseball and softball to get kids on a college campus," Granderson told The Baseball Insiders, regarding the mission of his Chicago Baseball and Educational Academy, "Then, we go ahead and show them what other opportunities could be made for them. But those same baseball kids and softball kids ... some of them aren't already collecting. Some of them are thinking about their next steps. Some of them are thinking about starting their own business. And what greater way is there to do that than with this initiative that Samuel and his team have been able to put together?"
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MLB All-Star Curtis Granderson announces Youth Collectors Club Initiative, in conjunction with the National Sports Collectors Convention
The next steps of the program will come at the National itself, when the new generation of collectors will be immersed in the action, building their portfolios while meeting and greeting dealers, enthusiasts and the stars of the game.
It's no surprise that both Granderson and Evans have retained the youthful spark that comes with collecting while also distilling it into something even more significant with forward momentum.
But, if you ask Granderson today, the seed of his early days in the hobby remains with him, all these years later. The 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card remains the crown jewel of his chase, and has earned a prominent place on display in his home all these years later - so, yes, you can have a bevy of personal accolades and a fulfilling baseball life of your own and still learn something from the thrill of the chase.