Nikki Ritcher Photography

Erikk Aldridge Blends Passion for Sport and Giving Back to the Community

By Kendrick Mooney

9/10/2020 3:00:00 PM

Triton Alum Erikk Aldridge had a great career with the UC San Diego baseball team. During his time with the Tritons, Aldridge was a three-year starter, earned Rookie of the Year honors and served as a team captain. Almost 30 years later, Aldridge's 42 career stolen bases still ranks in the top ten. Aldridge’s passion for sports goes beyond the baseball diamond and the former Triton has used it to help create positive change in the community.

Aldridge grew up a couple of hours away from campus in Inglewood. UC San Diego was appealing for many reasons. It combined strong academics and athletics, it was not too close to home and having warm weather in the winters did not hurt either.

Playing at UC San Diego was an amazing experience for Aldridge. The Tritons made the World Series his freshman year and the baseball field relocated to where the current Triton Ballpark is. Outside of playing, Aldridge was able to give back to the community by working with local schools and the YMCA to get kids to come down to see the field.

“For me, (giving back) is really a part of my family’s DNA,” said Aldridge. “I think it really helps center me as I work through life. If you’re giving back, it kind of keeps things in focus.”

Post college, Aldridge worked for some of the biggest teams and sports organizations in the country. His first job was with the Lakers in 1991. The team played at the Forum back then, only blocks away from where he grew up. He experienced all the ups and downs while working for the Lakers. On Aldridge’s first day of work, Magic Johnson announced he was HIV positive. Years later and near the end of his tenure, the team won a Championship in 2000.

Aldridge came into the Lakers organization with a communications and public relations background, but was able to make his mark in the industry through community service initiatives.

“Community relations at the corporate level was not something that was a position at every large company. I got to see in the early days with the NBA teams really starting to emphasize on community relations. Before I left the Lakers, we established the Lakers Youth Foundation and I found that I really enjoyed community service and philanthropy.”

Aldridge celebrating the Laker's Championship (Photo Credit Andrew D. Bernstein)

Aldridge currently is the Director of the AEG Community Foundation. The foundation donates money to nonprofits that focus on sports, health and wellness, youth education and the arts. In between AEG and the Lakers, he has had stops with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Walt Disney Company and the Boys and Girls Club.

Outside of his professional career, Aldridge makes his impact on his local community through philanthropy and coaching. He started the Inglewood Baseball Fund in 2015 which is committed to youth baseball development, developing facilities in communities in need and helping people find jobs in baseball.

Ribbon cutting ceremony (Photo Credit Venice Paparazzi)

Over the last 13 years, Aldridge has been involved in coaching youth baseball. During the summers, he has taken his travel team to play in San Diego. The team would stay overnight on UC San Diego’s campus, making it the first time many of the kids had been on a college campus. A few of the kids were lucky enough to be on campus the same time LeBron James was running his summer camps and even got to meet the NBA Superstar. The travel trips were an incredible experience for the kids as it gave them the ability to just be a kid and to see what opportunities were out there for them. One such player Aldridge was part of the early development of and had stayed on UC San Diego’s campus for one of these summer travel trips was Met’s first baseman Domminic Smith.

“It is very rewarding seeing these young people go from eight, nine, ten years old to seeing them on TV as college and professional players.”

For Aldridge, athletics goes beyond the game. Aldridge sees sports as a way to make a positive impact and create change in the community.

“As we sit here in 2020 and we talk about things that are impacting America like systemic racialism and social injustice, I think one of the ways to address those things is through sport. And sport can be such a great conduit for young people from all backgrounds, especially some of those disenfranchised, to get connected with education and healthy living and lifestyles.”

Years after graduating from UC San Diego, Aldridge still looks back at his time as a scholar-athlete as an important period in his life. He viewed the scholar-athlete experience as a unique time one can make an impact.

“You do have a platform for 4-5 years. People (outside the sports community) will listen to you. They want to hear your story, they want to how you train, they have a unique interest in that. You have to take advantage of that. You have to find a way within your training, your social life to use that platform to springboard you into your future.”

Aldridge's days as a Scholar-Athlete are long behind him, but his passion for sports and the community remain as strong as ever.

Left to right - Erikk Aldridge, UC San Diego Athletic Director Earl Edwards, UC San Diego basketball alum Darvin Jackson

About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program begins a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.

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