Turning Battlefields into Baseballfields
Nearly seven months after its first trip to Vietnam with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Major League Baseball (MLB) is returning from Aug. 6-19 to conduct a pair of baseball clinics in Hanoi and Dong Ha. Once again, the Memorial Fund will be a partner in the project, providing in-country support for both baseball clinics.
MLB established a foothold for baseball in Vietnam earlier this year, when the Memorial Fund introduced MLB and the sport of baseball to Vietnam with its “Bringing Baseball to Vietnam” delegation on Jan. 17-25.
“When the Memorial Fund and MLB brought baseball to Vietnam last January, we said we were turning battlefields into ballfields,” said Memorial Fund Founder and President Jan C. Scruggs. “And we did that, literally. But just as important is the cultural exchange that continues to take place between our two countries. I am delighted that Major League Baseball is continuing this work.”
MLB representatives will conduct the first of two August baseball clinics on Aug. 8-11 at the National University for Sports and Physical Culture (NUSPC) near Hanoi. Classes will be held for both players and coaches, teaching them the rules of the game and the skills they need to play and teach it.
The next stop is Le Loi High School in Dong Ha, Quang Tri Province, which will be the site of another clinic, offering training for both coaches and players, on Aug. 14-18.
The coaches leading both clinics are William Thomas and David Palese. Thomas, a college baseball coach in California, was voted MLB’s Envoy Coach of the Year for 2005. Palese is the assistant baseball coach for Rochester University in New York.
The August clinics retrace the path of January’s “Bringing Baseball to Vietnam” delegation, when the Memorial Fund, MLB and pitcher Danny Graves traveled to Vietnam to introduce the Vietnamese to a new sport. Graves and MLB representatives staged a baseball exhibition at NUSPC in Hanoi and conducted a day-long clinic at Le Loi High School in Dong Ha, where the Memorial Fund, with a grant from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, built the country’s first baseball field.
The Memorial Fund conceived of the idea of introducing baseball to Vietnam as another way to open doors of friendship and understanding with the Vietnamese people. The delegation was also focused on bringing attention and support to Project RENEW™, the Memorial Fund’s five-year-old mine-action program, Project RENEW™. Launched in 2000, it is a cooperative effort between the Memorial Fund and the Quang Tri Province People’s Committee, designed for Restoring the Environment and Neutralizing the Effects of War. Project RENEW™ is the first comprehensive management approach undertaken in Vietnam to address the problem of landmines and unexploded ordnance.
Major League Baseball has publicized its commitment to internationalize the sport, and it hosted the inaugural World Baseball Classic, a 16-nation tournament, last March. The January trip with the Memorial Fund allowed MLB to get a foothold in a country where, before then, baseball was virtually unknown.
Rick Dell, MLB’s coordinator of game development for Asia and the Pacific, said that MLB pledged to return after the January trip and work with the Vietnamese people to nurture the growth of baseball in that country. The August clinics, he said, were MLB keeping that promise.
“We hope to expand on our initial trip to Vietnam in January and focus on the development of players and coaches through a more intimate approach,” Dell explained. “Our envoy coaches will conduct training sessions for players and coaches in moderate-sized groups. It is our goal this time to leave behind individuals who can instruct and promote the game after the Major League Baseball coaches complete the two-week tour of Hanoi and Dong Ha.”
Vietnam has welcomed this new pastime. Vu Xuan Hong, president of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO), called the January delegation “a cultural exchange of historical significance.”
He added, “VUFO, in partnership with the Committee of Sports and Physical Education, is committed to developing baseball in Vietnam—a country with a tradition of creating strong sports programs, and baseball will be a welcome addition to the country.”
Source: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
