Manny Mota Presented with Roberto Clemente Award for Sports Excellence by NCLR

Dodger legend Manny Mota was honored by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) this past Tuesday at their National Conference Awards Gala in Los Angeles.  He was given the Roberto Clemente Award for Sports Excellence which seeks to award a sports professional who has been dedicated to causes affecting Hispanics.  Past winners include former Raiders coach Tom Flores and ballplayer Minnie Minoso.

Per a NCLR press release:

With his wife, Margarita, Mota founded the Manny Mota International Foundation more than 30 years ago. The foundation’s mission is to provide educational, health and recreational opportunities for underprivileged and disadvantaged youth. Through the Manny Mota Baseball Clinics, youth are taught to build healthy bodies and minds through positive role models and self-discipline through sports. The foundation also provides communities with the tools necessary for improvement and self-reliance. Since 1992, it has held a yearly fundraising event called the Campo de Sueños (Field of Dreams) Awards Banquet. Proceeds from this event fund a major portion of its humanitarian programs. Mota’s selfless work and that of his family, has received numerous honors. Mota and his family were recognized by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation with the Ray Boone Award as “Baseball’s Family of the Year,” and they were honored at Los Angeles City Hall in 2004 by Los Angeles City Councilman Ed Reyes and Council President Alex Padilla. For his extensive career, Mota, a proud Dominican, was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum during pregame ceremonies at Dodger Stadium in 2003. He also received the Deportista Meritorio, a lifetime achievement award honoring his baseball career and citizenship.

This is no doubt a well-deserved award for a great Dodger.  Check out the Manny Mota International Foundation website here.  You can also follow him on twitter here: @MannyMota11.

Below is a video from the event.  To watch Mota's speech go the the 1hr:44min:50sec mark (01:44:50).  I apologize for not having the video start there, but I couldn't figure that out.

Watch live streaming video from nclrevents at livestream.com

Video Link:

Pic at the very top via @Javi_NYC on twitter:

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