MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, CAA Sports and venture capitalists are preparing to launch a social-networking site that will allow athletes such as Derek Jeter and LeBron James to interact with youth athletes. The site named WePlay.com continues MLBAM’s vertical growth aspect, which includes continued growth at the MLB, minor league, USA Baseball, and youth levels. As reported by the Sports Business Journal:

The site, which was unveiled at the OnMedia NYC conference last week, blends the networking capabilities of MySpace and Facebook with some of the classic, instructional elements featured in SI for Kids like “Tips from the Pros.” It will launch in April and try to gain traction with more than 240 million people who CAA Sports estimates are active in youth sports.

“What we’re trying to do is actually bridge the gap between a guy who’s playing shortstop for the New York Yankees and some kid who’s playing shortstop in Sandusky, Ohio,” said WePlay CEO Steve Hansen.

As further reported, the site will get instant credibility from the stable of athletes within CAA Sports:

Six high-profile CAA Sports athletes involved in the site will raise its profile immediately. As founding partners in the venture, those athletes — Jeter, James, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, USA Softball player Jennie Finch, Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander and San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker — will have an equity stake in WePlay.

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