Can a kid's game create a better relationship between police officers and youngsters in Snohomish County? That's the ambition of a week-long baseball camp in Everett. It's called Badges for Baseball, a program started by former Baltimore Orioles manager Cal Ripken Sr. His Hall of Fame son, Cal Jr., chairs the foundation to honor his dad's memory and grow the game he loves.

Cassie Clemente with the Ripken Foundation explained their goals during the camp set up at Kasch Park in South Everett.

"Badges for Baseball targets kids who've played very little baseball before. So we start with basic fundamentals, like how you put a glove on your hand," Clemente said. "We have throwing and hitting, but it's more about spending time with law enforcement mentors."

The program is a collaboration of the Ripken Foundation and U.S. Department of Justice as a juvenile crime prevention tool.

Many youngsters grow up with a bad image of police, or learn to mistrust the men and women who are supposed to serve and protect them.

Community outreach officer Mark Carter runs into that problem through his work at Everett's Explorer Middle School.

"Sometimes these kids come from different backgrounds where the interactions with police is not so positive," officer Carter told me. "So we try to break down those perceptions, and hopefully realize we're there to help them."

Carter was a fine high school baseball player, but not every police officer knows how to teach the game. Badges for Baseball has enlisted nearly 50 former and current coaches to pass along their knowledge.

Ed Gay coached baseball at Archbishop Murphy High School. He says the primary goal is to make the game fun for these 8-to 14-year-olds.

"At the end of the camp we want the coaches and the kids to all walk away thinking, 'We had a fun week,'" Gay said.

The campers were recruited through Everett Police community outreach officers. Charlie Cobb with Snohomish County Boys and Girls Clubs managed to get breakfast, lunch, and prizes donated from local businesses.

Cobb says these campers won't be sitting around playing Xbox, or channel surfing.

"If you peruse the agenda, you'll see that everything is timed at each station," Cobb said. "There's no picking buttercups at this puppy."

As Cal Ripken Jr. told me in a recent visit to 97.3 KIRO FM, baseball is a humbling game full of life lessons. Even the best players manage to get a hit just 30 percent of the time. Learning how to cope with failure is a big part of the game.

Badges for Baseball campers will also learn about leadership, work ethic, personal responsibility, teamwork, and choosing to be healthy.

If nothing else, says officer Mark Carter, "the kids will come to realize they can trust us, communicate with us, and see we're not out there trying to get them in trouble."