A Winning Season for I Love Baseball™
POSTED ON Feb 12, 2010 / UPDATED ON Feb 25, 2011
Children of the Nations’ I Love Baseball™ (ILB) Program is having a huge impact on the lives of young men in the Dominican Republic. Six new players have recently joined the program, bringing the total to twenty-one, and we hope to add nine more in the near future. We’ve also been able to add another coach to share in the workload; his wealth of experience will greatly benefit the kids. His addition makes four Dominican staff members.
Four of our players have given their lives to Christ in the past couple of months, and we rejoice to see the changes that are occurring in their lives! Sharing the gospel is a key part of ILB’s mission, and we are encouraged to see God at work there.
Perhaps the most prominent pillar of the ILB Program, however, is education. ILB participants hit the field to hone their baseball skills in the morning and hit the classroom to hone their academic skills in the afternoon. The results are visible: eighteen-year-old Salomon, our oldest player, began Pre-Med classes last fall. He still dreams of the Major Leagues, but he has a solid backup plan.
The Major Leagues are getting interested, though. A scout from the Toronto Blue Jays recently visited and gave rave reviews to two of our players, Henri and Fileral, who both pitched extremely well that day.
Major League Baseball player Miguel Batista also visited our Barahona facility in December. He spent two days working with the kids, giving advice, holding individual pitching and hitting lessons, and teaching new stretching and conditioning techniques.
“It was awesome!” said COTN–USA ILB Coordinator Ben Holman. “Miguel was great. He was so helpful, and he spent a ton of time with the kids!”
Another person who has “spent a ton of time with the kids” is Chris Sullivan. Chris worked with us as a communications consultant in Barahona for the last five months—teaching English and helping with sponsorship, internal operations, and coaching. Children of the Nations would like to thank Chris for loving our kids and dedicating so much of his time to helping them succeed.
The future is bright for ILB. This year, players from six high school and college baseball teams—among them, Concordia and the University of Washington—have scheduled Venture trips to the Dominican Republic to work with the ILB Program. We have also begun relationships with Seattle Mariners Spanish Radio and the Ronald McDonald House and are planning multiple events for the year, among them the annual Baseball Challenge event (www.thebaseballchallenge.org) and a celebration for Major League Baseball’s Opening Day.
Please continue praying for the I Love Baseball Program and the young men participating in it. For more information on the Program and how you can get involved, check out www.ilovebaseball.org.