press release

US Embassy and Partners of the Americas Support Nicaraguan Youth Baseball and Softball – September 09, 2009

March 9, 2009

The US Embassy in Managua along with the Partners of the Americas announces today that three Nicaraguan communities have been awarded small grants to support youth baseball and softball activities.  Each grant is for $250 and is part of the US State Department sponsored Youth Sports Management Exchange program managed by Partners of the Americas in cooperation with the Wisconsin-Nicaragua Partners.

The three grant winners are Leonel Cardoza (Ciudad Dario), Lilliam Gomez (Tipitapa), and Douglas Misael Ordeñana (Empalme de Boaco).  In Ciudad Dario grant funds will be used to train community volunteers as coaches, umpires and scorekeepers so they can better support a league for 300 youth.  The project in Tipitapa will help start a softball league for 60 girls.  It will also focus parental involvement as a way to use sports to increase educational results.  At Empalme de Boaco, the project will train community volunteers to support youth league activities with an emphasis on linking educational achievements to opportunities to play baseball.   This next week two seasoned coaches from Wisconsin, Ken Wiske (UW-Stevens Point), and Thomas Ordens (Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association coach of 37 years, Stevens Point), will be participating in the final set of workshops for this program, in each of the respective locations.  The workshop content covers parental involvement and incorporating a spirit of volunteerism, training of officials for the game, and basic sports medicine practices.  

The Youth Sports Management Exchange Program began in late 2007.  As part of this grant, five Nicaraguan youth baseball officials travelled to Washington, DC, Baltimore, Maryland, and to various cities and towns in Wisconsin to explore programs and strategies for providing sustainable sports opportunities for economically disadvantaged youth and for stressing educational achievement together with sports achievement.  They also participated in a two-day workshop at the Ripken Academy, the organization started by Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr.  While in Wisconsin, they were able to meet with Nicaraguans playing in the Minor Leagues and were special guests of the Milwaukee Brewers at one of their home games.  Additionally, Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners of the Americas have sent four volunteers to Nicaragua to lead baseball workshops in Jinotepe, Tipitapa, Estelí, Ciudad Dario, and Empalme de Boaco.

As a result of the Youth Sports Management Exchange Program, a new girls softball team was organized in Tipitapa, where a high level of community interest has evolved through the W/NP Learning Center and Lending Library programs.   All of the participants in the program have been involved training coaches and volunteers in their communities as they work to increase sports opportunities for youth.

Founded in 1964, Partners of the Americas links U.S. states with Latin American and Caribbean countries in partnerships that use the energy and skills of citizen volunteers, their institutions and communities to address shared concerns of social, economic and cultural development. Its work covers areas as diverse as emergency preparedness, agriculture, cultural exchange, domestic violence and local government strengthening. Partners is a private, nonprofit, non-partisan organization with international offices in Washington, D.C.

Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners (W/NP), chapter of Partners of the Americas has been promoting cultural awareness and sustainable community development between the peoples of Wisconsin and Nicaragua for over 43 years. W/NP offers unique travel and project involvement opportunities covering a very broad spectrum of subject matter. People from all walks of life in both Wisconsin and Nicaragua are involved at various capacities depending on their personal interests.

Partners of the Americas Contact:

Paul Teeple
Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners:  Amy Wiza
Phone: 202-637-6227          Phone: 715-346-4702
E-mail: pteeple@partners.net       E-mail:  awiza@uwsp.edu