By William Townsend
Five years following the end of the North Carolina Central University baseball program, baseball is back in the form of the NCCU Club team, who are competing in their first season in 2026.
Vincent Bell is the founder of the new club baseball team at NCCU. He is a sophomore sports management major from Charlotte, NC. As someone who played baseball all his life, he had to make the tough decision to forgo playing collegiately and enrolled at NCCU. He thought his baseball career was over until his high school advisor asked if NCCU had a club baseball team When he told her no, she said “Then create one”. This one response lit a fire under Vincent, and he immediately went to work when he got to campus in Fall of 2024. “So that really took pretty much the whole year of like me, getting an advisor, establishing an executive board, getting the connections to like, make the team join in the right leagues. And here we are now today.” In building this executive board, he found someone he could call a true partner.
Kamron Roberts is a sophomore business administration student from Charlotte, who serves as the Vice President of the team. “I didn’t always play baseball. I played little league for a little bit, but then when I got to middle school, I started playing football. However, the sport of baseball did always fascinate me.”
Kameron made the same decision to continue focusing on his academics, but what he didn’t know was that opportunity was around the corner. “I was presented with this opportunity, you know, to become the vice president of this team. And I just felt like, you know, it was one of those things, like something I should have said yes to a long time ago. It’s kind of like the door was opening again. So I just felt like it was a science, you know, pursue this avenue and really see what baseball is about to do for my life.” The same opportunities they were given is what these two are looking to bring to NCCU.
The new revival of the Club Baseball team has led to a new push for a greater impact even on and off campus. The team has adopted a motto that they live by: “Train, Compete, Repeat”. The long-lasting goal isn’t to just have a team, it’s to build brotherhood among themselves and others.
The team played in their first outing on February 18th at High Point University. They didn’t get the winning outcome but true spirit was shown. It’s only season one, they have many more battles to be a part of. The team has a multitude of showings left this season, some that will even be played at Hillside High School.
Vincent Bell Jr. and Kamron Roberts are leaders that strive to transform the way baseball is seen at NCCU and even Durham. Being the trailblazers that bring back a forgotten path, they forge new ways for students and youth to be involved. And we look forward to continuing to follow their story as they matriculate through a new beginning.