Across the Philippines, Little League® volunteers are helping to grow the game through baseball and softball clinics across their country. In many cases, these volunteers are finding unique ways to teach the game using everyday objects to help show children easy ways to have fun through baseball and softball.
Over the course of October, volunteers throughout the Philippines brought together young boys and girls to help share some lessons on how to learn the game with the resources they have, even if that means little at all.
“The first thing that we do when we get to an area, is show them how they can start playing baseball with homemade equipment,” said Jolly Gomez, Little League Philippines District 1 Administrator and Little League International Board of Directors Member. “We teach them how to make baseballs by wrapping an old T-shirt with string and electrical tape and then make gloves with cardboard and flip flops, bats from PVC pipes, and batting tees from old motorcycle tires.”
With their new gloves and balls created, the children form into groups where they work with the volunteers on throwing and catching drills to try out the newly made equipment.
Often times, in order to reach those children that may not normally have the opportunity to play the game, the baseball and softball educational clinics go to war-torn areas, such as this one (below) that was held in Maguindanao, located in an area of the Philippines named Mindanao, where the airport remains guarded by a tank.
Prior to any of the physical activity involved in the clinic, volunteers make sure that all of the participants get fully warmed up and stretched out inside the gym before heading outside to the field.
Once warmed up, the younger groups of participants (mostly Tee Ball age) remain in the gym where they learn some of the fundamentals of baseball and softball in a fun setting while the older groups head out to the field for some instructional lessons from the volunteers.
At the end of the day, all of the participants return to the gym to gather together one last time before heading home after learning some new lessons about baseball, softball, and what the Little League experience is all about.
Mr. Gomez and his group of volunteers in the Philippines continues to work hard to help grow the game of baseball and softball throughout the country, and thanks to their field development program, have even built a field for a group of children, so they would have a place to play in their community.
