Young girls like this pitcher there have new hope through softball for wearing ECUADOR across their chest.

USING SOFTBALL TO REBUILD HOPE IN ECUADOR
2011-08-25

At a time in their life when everything was turning dark, the youth in one part of Ecuador have found a ray of light in the sport of softball.

They were living a painful tragedy due to fire in a block of humble homes in the south of the city of Guayaquil. Mother Nature destroyed almost all of the houses that were at the edge of the stream. There was work to be done but the labor of the people couldn’t hide the sad pages left behind. But, there was also light at the end of the tunnel. They say that it made them learn to trust in themselves and their intuition, making them strong when facing adversity. And so now there is a happy recovery of these young people nestled in the South League Sports Complex.

Italian priest Enzo Bazano brought approximately 200 children of color to the South League with the intention of taking them away from addictions to drugs and alcohol as well as the gangs that are affecting the security of their city. In contrast to that type of life was the young people being put together to play sport.

Now their girls and boys are already a reality thanks to a project named “Esmeraldas Chiquito” (“Small Emeralds”) joined to Las Duras del Sur (“The Strong of the South”). Hard work was done for many months with a group of 40 girls, initiating softball so that they could learn the sport even though they hadn’t previously known how to use a glove or a ball. Now they’re to the point where they’ve shown their newly-learned skills at tournaments that they’ve been participating in, and some of them have already made the pre-selection of the National Softball Team of Ecuador. Thanks to their complexity, speed, and skills, and because of their innate vocation, they now are becoming potential participants for the team that will play at the South American Softball (age) 15-and-under tournament that will be held in Lima, Peru, and this whole process has been happening in a record time of less than a year. This success, they feel, “is worth emulating in many neighborhoods in our city.”

The girls were initiated into the process during their vacation time of 2010. From Monday to Friday they were transported to the Club, where instructors Miguel Valero and Douglas Muñoz were in charge of their classroom lessons and practices. Although this project has the support of the Ecuador Softball Federation and the National Olympic Committee in that country, the South League Foundation was in charge of their meals in the facilities. Following the completion of the weekday training they had recreation time on the weekends in the League’s pools. They were then transported by bus to the Church of the Emerald Chiquito, where they were picked up by their parents and relatives, who would anxiously ask them what they did during the day.

Also involved with the process were international instructors from the National Team of Venezuela, pitcher John Garcia and catcher Rafael Flores. They also had “our (Ecuador’s) best softball player,” shortstop Carolina Mendoza who played for the University of South Alabama (USA), as well as Neirling Ysea, Isa Cumare, and Viannis Garcia, who shared their knowledge with the girls. The project also had instructors from Cuba, who were brought in by the national federation.

The “Esmeraldas Chiquito” project is a reality and they are proud that the girls are showing that the efforts that have been made are keeping them moving forward. The ISF is proud to once again see softball helping people come together to bring peace in troubled times.

Watching this video about the project, you don’t need to understand Spanish to have your heart touched by these images of sport bringing joy to the lives of today’s youth.