Venezuelan's Coaches Dream Comes True

Baseball coaches from Venezuela meet MLB stars Endy Chavez and Tony Armas.

"It was a dream come true to go to a Major League Baseball game and to see our own people playing in the game," proclaimed Asuncion Vicente Flores Hernandez, a Venezuelan youth baseball coach in Washington D.C. as part of a international sports initiative sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Ten coaches, from the Venezuelan program Los Criollitos, kicked off their sports program with a trip to a Major League Baseball (MLB) game between the Nationals and Phillies where they had the opportunity to watch and visit with Venezuelan players from both teams, including Booby Abreu, Tony Armas and Tomas Perez. The group was in the D.C. area from September 1 to 15, 2005 to learn about baseball in the U.S., the training, organization and the culture that surrounds it.

Los Criollitos is equivalent to Little League in the U.S. It has more than 100,000 players ages 3-18 enrolled throughout Venezuela, and has produced most of the Venezuelan players currently playing in MLB, including home run derby champion Bobby Abreu and multiple Gold Glove winner Omar Vizquel.

The coaches' visit contained three baseball clinics, including one at Cal Ripken's facility in Aberdeen, Maryland. They also visited high school, college and community clubs to observe baseball being taught at all levels. The initiative also incorporated a well-received conflict resolution course at Georgetown University. Coach del Valle Morales Veitia commented, "It was interesting to discuss how here and back home conflict resolution is addressed." Another "tremendously interesting." highlight for coach Wilfredo Felipe Figueroa Ramos was their visit to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington where the police officers worked on baseball programs for the inner city youth. The coaches attended a second MLB game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, took in a high school football game and a college women's soccer game.

This sports initiative with the youth coaches from Venezuela was based on baseball, a sport loved by the Venezuelans and a shared cultural passion between two countries whose peoples have been friends for centuries. The program allowed the participants to learn baseball skills, open up a dialogue with their American counterparts, as well as enhancing their understanding of U.S. culture. Coach Caceres Duran appreciated this aspect. He noted that the opportunity learn more about U.S. culture as well as youth baseball made their visit "doubly beneficial."