Global Ties U.S. is a proud partner of Baseball4Life, a youth empowerment program launching today in South Africa. The exchange is organized by Global Ties South Africa in collaboration with the Sedibeng East District Municipality and Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals.
South African Airways Cargo is also supporting this initiative through the transport of baseball equipment and uniforms (over 1,230 lbs.) free of charge.
Baseball4Life runs from November 6-15, 2017, and brings participants to Gauteng (Johannesburg and Pretoria metros) and Western Cape (Cape Town metro) Provinces.
U.S. experts include representatives of Global Ties U.S., as well as the Washington Nationals’ Youth Baseball Academy, the latter of whom will lead coaching and youth development workshops, sports clinics, and community engagement activities.
The exchange is taking place in both rural and urban communities, with particular emphasis on empowering youth from underserved areas.
Baseball4Life will teach participants the fundamentals of baseball, as well as how success in athletics can be translated into the development of life skills such as teamwork, goal-setting, leadership, and academic achievement.
By strengthening relations between the United States and South Africa, particularly at the community level, the exchange will demonstrate how sports can be a positive force for public diplomacy, community-building, and cross-cultural understanding.
ABOUT GLOBAL TIES SOUTH AFRICA:
Global Ties South Africa is a nonprofit diplomacy and international affairs organizations that utilizes international exchange and citizen diplomacy as catalysts for strengthening international relations, building individual and institutional capacity, stimulating change, and developing sustainable global connections. Global Ties South Africa is part of two large global networks – the Global Ties Network and the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE).
Photo by Scott Ableman, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0