Later on, there’d be time to learn a proper fastball grip and the technique of the drag bunt. But first, the 100 or so young boys and girls, all clad in Dodgers blue and white, were going to learn the basics. As in, the basics of exercise: Jumping jacks. Kneetouchers. Burpees.

On this day, the kids participating in the Dodgers’ flagship youth baseball and softball program, called Dodgers Dreamteam, hardly touched a bat or ball. Instead, the event was one of several clinics the program sponsors in which the young players run through a series of drills meant to promote overall physical fitness. “It’s about being active, having fun,” says Sean Mulligan, manager of youth programs for the Dodgers Foundation. What it wasn’t really about was evident: playing baseball.

For the Dodgers Foundation, that’s by design. Since first launching its youth baseball and softball leagues (originally called Dodgers RBI), Dodgers Dreamteam has grown to incorporate a wide range of non-baseball-related programming with a focus on issues from health care to education to college and career accelerators. The result is a series of events at which kids have access to information, resources, and services they may not otherwise receive. (Most of the leagues are in communities where the majority of children receive free or reduced-price school lunches.) “We use the term ‘bigger than baseball,’” says Tiffany Rubin, director of programs for the Dodgers Foundation. “Yes, the kids are signing up to play the sport, but our program is about more than just the sport itself.”