Beisbol Dominicana

In the Dominican Republic, baseball is life. From a very young age, Dominicans will forego everything for the simple hope of making the big leagues. The problem? 99% of these young men will never make a dime from baseball.

That’s why we started ‘I Love Baseball’ over 10 years ago… to address this problem. At first glance, kids not reaching or pursuing their dream to become a professional baseball player doesn’t appear like that big of a problem. But, the trickle down effect can be enormous. Especially in communities or villages of extreme poverty.

Since this dream becomes a reality for only a few, droves of young men are forced to return home uneducated, unskilled, and destined to a life of poverty. The stats are alarming:

• Dominican Major Leaguers: 83 (more than any other country outside the United States)
• Dominican children playing organized baseball: Nearly 1 Million

For every kid that eventually makes it into the professional baseball system there are over 10,000 kids that will never see any form of income from the sport. Even worse, they’ve missed the opportunity to receive a basic education. Young men are eligible to participate in baseball programs when they are 12 years old. If they don’t get signed (by a professional team) by the time they are 16–18, their run is over. There won’t be another opportunity. They are simply too old for major league scouts. In the Dominican Republic, if the male figure in the family doesn’t have an education or job training the vicious cycle of poverty continues for every member of the family. Unfortunately, this is also a sad reality in most of the developing world.

The vision of the ‘I Love Baseball’ program is to give Dominican youth a place where they can pursue their baseball dreams while still getting an education. You can’t simply provide these kids with the opportunity to pursue their passion OR an education. We wanted to give these young men the best possible opportunity to play the sport they love AND the opportunity for an education. Some of the best success stories we’ve seen from the program since it was a fledgling idea in 2005 have come about when a player no longer has the opportunity to play baseball. Through ‘I Love Baseball’, we’ve seen individuals go on to secondary school, work jobs through skill training received in the program, go on to medical school (a huge victory). Though we celebrate when a young man has the opportunity to sign with a major league team, we celebrate just as much when every other baseball player hangs up the cleats and goes on to pursue their educational and vocational pursuits upon graduating from the program.

Being a part of this non profit has been truly life changing for those in the program, and those who have poured into it. It’s been great to hear stories of Salomon pursuing and completing medical school after graduation from the ‘I Love Baseball’ academy, or to watch Hennri climb the ranks of the major league farm system after we found him living on the streets back in 2008 and traded him a baseball glove and a pair of cleats for his machete, or the other countless educations pursuits and successes from other graduates of our program. It’s been heartbreaking to learn of stories like Danilo, who became an orphan shortly after entering our program (with his mother’s passing) but encouraging to know that his ‘I Love Baseball’ family is always there to support him.

From helping conceive the idea in 2006, to visiting and helping to start the program in the DR in 2006 and 2007, to officially opening the Barahona Baseball and Education Academy in 2008, to partnering with Children of the Nations a few years later, and handing over all control of the program and operations in 2013 it has been a wild, fun, learning packed, and extremely rewarding ride.

I’m excited the program continues to thrive under new leadership. I’m excited something we worked on for years may soon become reality (the purchase of land from the government to build an official ball field and academy). I’m excited with the potential opportunity to visit the DR again (whoa, has it really been 9 years?) to help impact the potential growth and success of the program.

This piece was specifically written for the Projectline Inc. volunteer vacation grant. It’s great to work at a place where your employer values the contributions you make to your clients, and also the larger global community as a whole. If selected for the grant, I’m hoping to travel back to the Dominican Republic to help in a variety of ways:

• visit the players, staff members, and communities I haven’t spoken with in person for 9 years
• access current needs of the program, and help rally and gather support when I return to Seattle
• help lay the groundwork and negotiate the land deal we’ve worked years to achieve
• deliver baseball, education, clean water/nutrition supplies to the families who live in the bateyes (the poorest of the poor)
• build infrastructure improvements in the schools and academies
• play with the children in the bateyes and listen to and support their dreams for the future
• provide support, encouragement, and cheer on all volunteers, community members, and baseball players who have been impacted by the program

To watch the full length documentary on Baseball in the DR, click here.