My name is Lenny Roberts, owner of The Original Florida Pokers Travel Baseball Program. My Father, Mike Roberts, Founded the Original Florida Pokers in 1990 and this summer (2024) marks our 35th year mentoring South Florida student-athletes on and off the baseball field.
Sometimes imitated, NEVER DUPLICATED, the Original Florida Pokers had a mission statement right from the start. “Baseball is the Name…. Life Education is the Game”. We believed in teaching the Game of Life through the game of baseball.
Coach Roberts had a vision, dedication, and drive necessary to build an elite youth travel baseball program (before there was travel baseball) that is still recognized and respected in youth and amateur baseball circles across this country.
He was extremely competitive on the field, but the wins (there were many) and losses were a by-product of the hard work and discipline he instilled in those kids. Through this philosophy he was able to achieve his initial baseball goals of:
While other youth programs were and still are measuring success by wins and losses, we measure our success by how many kids we were able to teach life lessons and responsibility along with how many kids were able to go to college to play baseball and most importantly earn a degree.
Miami, UF, Fla State, FAU, N. Carolina, UCF, LSU, Kansas, Tulane, Navy, S. Carolina, and Indiana are just some of the schools that former Pokers attended. Not to mention the over 4 dozen players that went on to sign professional contracts including (6) 1st round, (19) Top 5 round and (26) top 10 round MLB Draft picks including most recently, 4 players selected in the 2020 & 2021 MLB Drafts.
Since 2005 I have run The Original Pokers and have helped players secure over $2 million in scholarships to schools all over the USA. For the first time ever, we have decided to expand the program entering the 2022 season. This ensures our reputation and legacy is passed down to the next generation of student-athletes. These new players will be taught the same life and baseball lessons that were taught to the Original Florida Pokers players since 1990. Our teams will be coached by former major leaguers, college players and college coaches.
There are literally thousands of youth baseball programs throughout the United States, but THE ORIGINAL FLORIDA POKERS, founded by my father, Mike Roberts, is truly one of a kind. It was and still is an educational experience that uses competitive travel baseball as its’ platform. We also travel outside of Florida to educate our players that there is life outside of Florida and expose them to the cultures around our great country that they may never visit on their own.
The Fact is, the student-athletes that pass through the Original Florida Pokers program are better prepared for the life challenges that lie ahead of them.
“YOU ONLY NEED TO ASK ANY FORMER ORIGINAL POKERS PLAYER OR ONE OF THE COLLEGE COACHES THAT HAD A PLAYER COME THROUGH THEIR PROGRAM”
There are literally thousands of youth baseball programs throughout the United States, but THE ORIGINAL FLORIDA POKERS, founded by my father, Mike Roberts, is truly one of a kind. It was and still is an educational experience that uses competitive travel baseball as its’ platform. We also travel outside of Florida to educate our players that there is life outside of Florida and expose them to the cultures around our great country that they may never visit on their own.
The Fact is, the student-athletes that pass through the Original Florida Pokers program are better prepared for the life challenges that lie ahead of them.
“YOU ONLY NEED TO ASK ANY FORMER ORIGINAL POKERS PLAYER OR ONE OF THE COLLEGE COACHES THAT HAD A PLAYER COME THROUGH THEIR PROGRAM”