Several administrators throughout Dominica recently went through a special three-day training session in preparation for the worldwide launching of Game On! Baseball.

 

Game On! Baseball, an initiative of the National Alliance For Youth Sports, provides children ages 6-13 in poverty-stricken regions of the world with the chance to learn and play the sport in a fun setting with minimum adult participation.

 

Game On! Baseball will be unveiled on March 10-12 during the first-ever Caribbean Conference on Children's Sports in Roseau, Dominica.

 

Administrators representing the Castle Bruce District including the Carib Territory and San Sauver participated in the training, which was conducted by Alliance staff members.

The administrators received classroom instruction as well as practical training that involved working with 25 children on the basics of baseball.

 

"Most of the children have played cricket their entire lives so they were able to pick up the skills of the game quickly," said John Engh, vice president of Youth Development for the Alliance. "The biggest challenge was teaching the children the differences between the two sports. Running the bases properly, how to swing the bat differently and learning baseball's terms and rules were the biggest challenges but everything was easier because of the skill level of most of the children."

 

The training culminated with a makeshift baseball game that was held on the basketball court of a local elementary school due to inclement weather.