Lessons from Dominican Little League

The Caribbean Sea, seen from Santo Domingo, Rep. Dominica. 

When I first sat down to write this post, it was destined to be a feel-good, "look at these kids playing for the love of the sport" piece. A big ol' smiley face piece. An "Awww" piece. A "I wish our kids could value their opportunities a little more..." piece.

Then I did some more research and looked a little closer at my assumptions. Dominican kids don't have less pressure to succeed at baseball, as the Saturday afternoon, semi-organized games I witnessed would suggest. They have infinitely more.

Baseball came to the Dominican Republic in the late 1800s, brought by Cubans (the first Caribbean baseball powerhouse) who were fleeing their war-torn country. Almost immediately, it became a hit. Teams were formed, then leagues, then major leagues, then a professional league, then academies, training centers, scouting stadiums...Baseball is considered the national pastime of the Dominican Republic and a lot of outside money comes into the country because of it.

Yet, due to economical strife caused by their last dictator, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, most of the population is desperately poor.

A (hopefully) uninhabited home

According to the Dominican Prospect League's home page, "From the time they are little, Dominican boys are enticed by the dream of a professional career in baseball. Many perceive this as their only opportunity to escape a life of poverty."

According to our guide, running water is spotty, even in the capitol city of Santo Domingo.
We saw dozens of shops and homes with garbage piled on the roofs or thrown in the streets.

Our kids, here in the U.S. (for the most part), aren't trying to escape a life of poverty; they're trying to attain a life of luxury. That difference in motivation means that the Dominican kids who want to succeed at baseball have more to lose by missing the limelight than the U.S. kids who have to settle for college, community college, or post-high school jobs if they don't become the next Babe Ruth. Dominican kids who don't make it have far fewer options for schooling and far fewer opportunities for work outside the tourist industry (the number one industry in the Dominican).

The desperation that comes from wanting to flee poverty is one that drives kids, families, and those who can profit off of them to do whatever it takes. The focus isn't on winning games and collecting medals and trophies, like it is here. Frankly, from what I saw, medals and trophies would seem to be a luxury not worth having. The focus instead is on becoming the best technical player one can be. That's the way to success. Well, that a willingness to sacrifice youth, education, and money for a shot.

In a fascinating ESPN article, "It's not all sun and games," authors Jorge Arangure Jr. and Luke Cyphers explore the reality that is Dominican little league. In it, they reveal the Dominicans' secrets to cultivating youth players.

.... Of course, one reason Dominican kids are so skilled is that they play few games. Unlike topflight American youth baseball, which emphasizes dozens of organized games a year, Dominican training is based on solitary repetition. "I don't know if they know baseball," one U.S. scout says of the trainers, "but they know how to coach them for the showcases."

Guzmán's charges drill seven hours a day -- five hours on hitting alone, up to 400 swings. "Just like the big leagues, scouts want big, strong guys who hit the ball out of the park," says Astin Jacobo Jr., a New Yorker who built an academy in San Pedro on an old sugarcane field eight years ago and now has 27 alumni currently in pro ball, including his son, Astin III. "It trickles down."

Something else trickles down too: a lack of regard for education. Most of these boys don't attend school. Dominican kids and families rolling the dice on baseball are making an economic decision. The United Nations says the Dominican government spends just 2.3% of its gross domestic product on education, ranking 121st in the world, behind Rwanda, the Philippines and Kazakhstan (the U.S. ranks 38th, at 5.7%).

 

Two of several baseball fields we saw that day. Notice the lack of infield, lines, bases, and grass.
Although the blowing trash was mostly absent from this particular field, others were littered with the offings of multiple days and households -- wrappers, bottles, diapers, and papers.

In the Dominican Republic, families are doing the exact opposite of what I wish we could achieve here. They're wagering all they have on the physique of a pre-teen, eschewing school and trade training, and creating situations in which an entire family's future is impacted by the achievement or failure of a young athlete.

Despite the fact that this blog is about promoting good sportsmanship and appropriate attitudes with regards to youth sports, I understand that those issues are almost uniquely American. Seeing the Dominican little league players out on a scorching day, working their butts off, was inspiring but they're doing it because they feel they have no other choice, not just because they love baseball.

We are lucky to have choices and lucky that we don't have to depend on sports to make or break our families.

Just a little perspective for today...