Thirty at-risk youth and their mentors enjoyed Rowdy the Roadrunner and several Roadrunner games.

Metro State Athletics hosted the "Sports Buddies" mentoring program in conjunction with the final regular season baseball and softball games on Saturday, April 25, at Auraria Field.

Sports Buddies, a program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado, provides youth (called littles) with an adult friendship that is consistent, ongoing, supportive, educational, safe and fun. Mentors (called bigs) are provided with the resources and support they need to be effective leaders for at-risk youth.

More than 30 big-little matches enjoyed a busy day with the Roadrunners, as baseball and softball swept doubleheaders, while men’s and women’s tennis competed in the finals of the RMAC Championship. They met Rowdy and played friendly games of wiffle ball or soccer.

The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado is to help children reach their full potential through professionally supported, one-to-one, volunteer mentoring relationships with measurable impact. In 2008, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado supported 2,165 mentoring relationships in Denver. For more information on the Sports Buddies program, visit http://www.denversportsbuddies.com/.