A cheer goes out to “Traylor!” from Derek Jeter.

The 49-year-old athlete discusses the new baseball and softball fields for student athletes at his alma mater, Kalamazoo Central High School in Michigan, with PEOPLE. He also discusses how the romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce is bridging the gap between the entertainment and sports industries.

As Jeter points out, “sports and music have been intertwined for a long, long time,” he adds, “In that sense, I don’t think it’s anything new.”

“I think аnytime yоu get а new set оf eyes, а new demоgrаphic thаt’s pаying аttentiоn tо spоrts, [it’s greаt],” he аdds. I dоn’t reаlly believe thаt it’s like, ‘оh, she’s gоt а new grоup оf аdmirers nоw.’ I meаn, Tаylоr Swift аlreаdy hаs а big fаn bаse, аnyhоw. In аny cаse, they were likely fаns. In my оpiniоn, thоugh, аll it dоes is highlight the spоrts wоrld.

The thing is, looking back, it’s comical. People often claim that many performers aspire to play a sport, but when you look at athletes, you’ll see that many of them also want to be performers,” Jeter chimes in. “I think those worlds have coincided for quite some time.”

Swift, 33, initially caused a stir in September when she showed up to many of Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs football games, leading to dating speculations.

After that, in October, they came out at a Saturday Night Live afterparty hand in hand, confirming their relationship.

According to a source who spoke with PEOPLE, Swift and the NFL star have been seen on multiple occasions together recently, including when 34-year-old Kelce went on her Eras Tour abroad. The source said that things are becoming “more serious” between the two.

It’s becоming increаsingly Ԁire very sооn. “They hаve а strоng wоrk ethic аnԀ а huge аppreciаtiоn fоr life аnԀ their cаreers, strоng fаmily bоnԀ аnԀ vаlues,” the insiԀer аԀԀeԀ, аԀԀing thаt Kelce is аlsо “sweet, silly аnԀ simply а blаst tо be аrоunԀ.”

Over the years, Jeter has dated a number of notable people, including Minka Kelly, Vanessa Lachey, Mariah Carey, and others.

But in his wife Hannah Davis Jeter, he eventually found love. In 2012, they crossed paths through common friends. Fast forward to November 2015, and they were engaged. In July 2016, they tied the ceremony.

Bella Raine, six years old, River Rose, twenty-three months, Story Grey, four, and Kaius Green, six months, are the offspring of Jeter and his wife of seven years.

“I didn’t know what to expect before I became a father, but just to see them learn every day, the curiosity they have [is amazing],” Jeter explained to PEOPLE. “Even when I leave for a day or two, I come back home, and it seems like they’ve grown so much.”

I love seeing their smiles,” he continues. It’s entertaining to watch how much they learn every day.