North Florida Baseball junior outfielder Gialdri Gomez is preparing for his first season with the Ospreys after transferring from Seminole State College. Growing up in The Bronx, New York, Gomez attended the DREAM program from first to eighth grade. Established in 1991 as Harlem RBI, DREAM is a non-profit youth development organization that operates charter schools in East Harlem and the South Bronx, serving over 2,500 students.
The DREAM program aims to support youth development through sports while focusing on academics and life choices. “The main goal and the backbone of the program is to let kids know, especially from the inner city, that you don’t have to grow up and be a statistic,” Gomez said. “You can be the next president. You can be an astronaut. You can be a teacher. Whatever it is that you aspire to be, you can do that.”
Gomez credits much of his growth as an athlete and person to his time at DREAM. He highlighted how discipline and positive reinforcement were important aspects of his experience there.
“That’s the whole point is to build that foundation so that when you’re on your own, you know what to do, and you don’t make choices that you shouldn’t,” he said. “It’s a great program with great people, and I have a lot of lifelong friends that I’ve met that I’ve known since we were little kids. It’s amazing what they do.”
During his years at DREAM, Gomez spoke at Carnegie Hall during a fundraising event where he met former New York Yankees player Mark Teixeira: “They introduced Mark Texeira onto the stage because he was one of the board members,” Gomez said. “I will never forget he signed some baseballs for me. I was a little kid and he was one of my favorite players ever.”
He also remembers winning a league championship in sixth grade alongside close friends and family before attending Pearl River High School in Pearl River, New York.
When being recruited by North Florida Head Coach Joe Mercadante in 2022, Gomez appreciated Mercadante’s familiarity with the Harlem RBI (DREAM) program: “He was actually recruiting me back in 2022 and he told me on the phone, it’s kind of like a full circle moment, he told me that he ‘knew a little bit about the RBI program’, which was pretty nice,” Gomez said. “I got in contact with [Mercadante] and I knew right from the jump that the coaching staff [was strong]. I knew it was going to be a great fit from the get go.”
After two seasons at Seminole State College—where last year he played 29 games with 89 at bats, posted a .393 batting average, .463 on-base percentage and .472 slugging percentage—Gomez now looks forward to contributing both on and off the field for North Florida.
“It’s special,” Gomez said. “I was in this program my whole life and my goal was always to play baseball at a high level. I had a goal and I worked for it, but [DREAM] always helped me get here.”
