SOUTHCOM Baseball Team Aims to Win Friends In Latin America

SOUTHCOM Baseball Team Aims to Win Friends In Latin America
Posted On: Mar 24 2009 4:03PM
By Mass Communication Specialist First Class Gino Flores
U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs

MIAMI – A baseball team representing U.S. Southern Command will begin a 25-day friendship tour to five Latin American nations Friday, where it will take part in exhibition games with military and civilian teams, and conduct free clinics for aspiring players of various age groups.

The team, comprised of command players, is scheduled to visit communities in Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Chile and the Dominican Republic during the tour.

In addition to exhibition games and baseball clinics, the team will also conduct visits to various schools, hospitals, orphanages and little leagues.

The tour, dubbed Baseball Partnership Tour 2009, was planned in coordination with the Department of State, host governments and Major League Baseball, and affords participating players an opportunity to take part in camaraderie-building athletic activities as goodwill representatives of their nation and the sport.

Now in its second year, the tour represents the command’s ongoing commitment to strengthening friendships with partner nations in the hemisphere through activities that range from combined military training and exercises to personal interaction outside of traditional military settings.

“There is no better way to forge individual bonds with our friends in the region than through personal contact," said Lt. Gen. Glenn Spears, Military Deputy Commander of U.S. Southern Command. "The nations our team will be visiting share our passion for baseball -- a sport that now enjoys a growing global following. It is this shared passion for baseball that will bring players and fans together during this tour. Their personal contact will cultivate many new friendships and further strengthen the existing partnerships between our countries.”