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...

Parent-Coach Pitfalls

Have you had the opportunity burden obligation privilege...

Have you ever coached your kid? What was your experience like? What was the best part of it...and was there a worst part?

My daughter has asked me to coach her lacrosse team this year. I've never coached my own kid...any pointers, parent-coaches? :-)

Let me know what you think in the comment section below!

Mom, Dad!!! We're in the Super Family Bowl!

I'll admit that the Super Bowl ended like I hoped it would, because I was rooting for family.

I was completely intrigued the match-up between head-coach brothers, with parents and other family watching it unfold.

This was a game about family; it was a game in which every coaching decision seemed infused with decades of family and sibling dynamics. There wasn't a bold call made that didn't evoke a sense of one brother thinking, "Got ya" and the other brother thinking, "Not for long, buddy."

What makes the meme above so funny is that the real-life aspect of the game was in our faces the whole time. These aren't automatons or idiosyncratic sports idols first. These two men are brothers first. They've played, fought, undoubtedly made some bad decision as teenagers, and lived...together. There was no way to forget that bond (not to mention the fact that they look so much alike) as the game unfolded.

Julian Linden, in this article, wrote about how the brothers, and others, felt:

"I just love him obviously. I think anybody out there who has a brother can understand what that is all about," John said.

"The meeting with Jim in the middle was probably the most difficult thing I have ever been associated with in my life. I am proud of him."

The game, at the Superdome in New Orleans, was preceded by one of the most poignant moments ever witnessed in the 47 editions of the Super Bowl when a choir from Sandy Hook Elementary School joined Jennifer Hudson in a stirring rendition of "America the Beautiful".

The 70,000 spectators rose to their feet, many with tears in their eyes, as the children sang, nearly two months after the deadly shooting rampage at their Connecticut school.

"Our wish is to demonstrate to America and the world that, "We are Sandy Hook and we choose love," the school said in a statement.

So, obviously, it wasn't just about the Harbaugh family. The Sandy Hook Elementary kids who sang reminded us that, through a still-unspeakable tragedy, they are now our family, too. I don't know anyone, tough or not, who didn't grieve their way through the Sandy Hook school shooting by worrying about their own children and grandchildren. That makes us all connected.

Then, there are the Harbaugh parents. I have two sons who are 12 months apart; the Harbaugh coaches are only a little farther apart than that. Just this weekend I hurt for each of my own as they worked through sibling crap. I can't imagine how I'd feel if they were pitted against each other in one of the most important sporting events of every year...or how they'd feel for each other.

AP Photo: Coaches after the Super Bowl

From this Associated Press article, entitled "John Harbaugh 'hurting' for younger brother Jim":

Even as the clock ran out and the Baltimore Ravens jumped around and embraced each other, the winning coach strode toward center of the field hurting for his brother, Jim, as much as he was pleased for himself.

The short embrace between the Baltimore and San Francisco coaches on the floor of the Superdome, in which Jim briefly touched John's face, "was probably the most difficult thing I've ever done, ever been associated with in my life," John said.

"Jim is a great competitor," John Harbaugh added. "I just love him, obviously. I think anybody out there who has a brother can understand. I just believe in him and I have so much respect for him. I admire him. I look up to him in so many ways and I am hurting for him in that sense."

And later on in the article...

After watching John Harbaugh address the media, Jack and Jackie Harbaugh made their way across the ground level of the Superdome to the 49ers locker room, where Jack spoke with Jim behind closed doors. The Harbaugh parents had predicted that their thoughts would likely be more with whoever lost the game, because they figured that son would need them most.

We all know, as parents, that it's super easy to get caught up in our kids' games, especially when they are a BIG DEAL. And this was a BIGGER DEAL than a 4th grade soccer game or a 6th grade middle-school football game. Or, even a high school state championship or a college playoff game during March Madness. 

This Super Family Bowl shows us that family is more important than any of that. Shoot -- family is more important than the Super Bowl. And, this time of the year, nothing's bigger than that.

Joani, John, and Jim Harbaugh

** As I was writing this, I found a picture of the Harbaugh siblings that I just HAD to show my daughter, the youngest of my three and the lone girl behind two teenage brothers. "Look what they have! A YOU!"

Also, the only reason I even watched the game this year was because of my own family. Way to go, Uncle Dean!

Have you ever been in a situation where your kids were pitted against each other in a game? How did you feel? How did you handle it? Leave comments below...