Dream big: Trevi's Homecoming organizers want to continue growing event in the future
Joy Hampton said when Jose Trevino and her husband, L’Erin Hampton, are together, it’s almost like an idea factory.
And it was more than three years ago when Hampton approached Trevino at a catcher’s camp while Trevino was still with the Texas Rangers, and Hampton asked Trevino whether he had any interest in hosting a tournament. Trevino was certainly interested.
Three years later, the Hamptons, who own 24Sports, were in the Coastal Bend this past weekend working with Trevino on “Trevi’s Homecoming”, a multi-day event that included a celebrity softball game, an appearance by social media sensation baseball team Savannah Bananas, batting practice on “The Lex”, multiple local pro baseball players signing autographs and offering instruction, and the centerpiece, a multi-day youth baseball and softball tournament in Portland.
All of that was tied into helping local charities such as the Coastal Bend Food Bank and Nate’s Next Kid Up with toys and food.
“L’Erin and Jose are very aligned,” said Joy Hampton, who was selling T-shirts among the other multiple duties she had at this past weekend’s event. “They are very similar personalities and very similar mindset, so it was really the vision of the two of them.”
Trevi's Homecoming Jose Trevino celebrates Coastal Bend baseball in homecoming event at Whataburger Field
High School Football Special squad: Moody's 1973 football team holds special place in school history
The first event the two collaborated on was in 2021 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The 2022 event moved to San Antonio as Joy Hampton said it was important to Trevino to have an event in South Texas. This year’s event was centered in Corpus Christi, a place Trevino reveres and still has ties to, and a place he is more than willing to return to, to give back to the community that helped raise him.
The event has evolved from Trevino’s Toy Drive in 2017 when Trevino, who is a John Paul II grad, conducted a one-day camp in Alice and the cost of admission was a new toy. This year’s event was much larger, but the premise was still the same: Helping the community.
“I feel like I owe it to South Texas. They’ve been behind me, pushing me to go for my dreams as far as I can remember,” Trevino said between multiple autograph sessions Saturday.
Trevino also wanted to have teams from other parts of Texas experience his home area in South Texas, as teams traded team pins all weekend at multiple events.
“This year I wanted to come back and let’s see what kind of crowd we can draw because the competition down here is great,” Trevino said. “I wanted to see the teams from North Texas come down here to see how beautiful the weather is and how much passion for baseball people have here.”
Hampton said the first year in 2021 in the DFW area when they collaborated on a tournament and toy drive they received more than 5,000 toys. That number will likely be similar for this year’s event, but Hampton said they also want to help the young players remember the event, whether it’s being able to meet Trevino, receive instruction from a former MLB player or playing against another team from another part of the state.
Where the 2024 event will be held has not yet been decided, but Hampton said the reception and response to this past weekend’s event has been strong. But Hampton said they want to keep growing it, and Trevino likes to use the mantra “dream big,” so it’s likely the two will continue to burn the midnight oil working to come up with more ideas to grow the event.
“There’s so much work happening right now, this has exceeded everyone’s expectations,” Hampton said. “I think after this is done, we’ll slow down and take a step back and look at the crazy things. People have come up to us and Jose and say, ‘Hey this has been amazing’ … I think the future … every year we say, ‘How do we get bigger?’ ‘How do we go crazier?’ We’ll see how we top hitting (batting practice) on an aircraft carrier, bringing the Savanah Bananas. We’ve got a task on our hands to try to go bigger … so we’ll see.”
Football 'He did it the right way': René “Galloping Gaucho" Ramirez leaves behind lasting legacy
MLB Sinton's Blake Mitchell makes pro debut with Kansas City Royals organization
High School Baseball Sinton's Blake Mitchell leads the 2023 Caller-Times All-South Texas Baseball Team
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Jose Trevino, L'Erin Hampton partnership key for Trevi's Homecoming
