OTTAWA – In the spirit of friendship, camaraderie and the growth of the game, Baseball Canada has agreed to send two of their top coaches to El Salvador to help train the Central American country’s high performance coaches in what will be a weeklong session.
The El Salvador National Sports Institute, along with the aid of Baseball Canada, organized these sessions, which will take place from May 10-16. Baseball Canada will be sending two of its most accomplished coaches to share their experiences and knowledge with the Salvadoran group.
André Lachance, Manager of Baseball Operations with Baseball Canada and Manager of the Women’s National Team will head down to El Salvador along with Dave Robb, former National Teams coach and current Head Coach of the Okotoks Dawgs Baseball Program and Manager of the Okotoks Dawgs Summer Collegiate Club.
The Institute originally reached out to Baseball Canada in October 2009 and began the process in the hopes of cultivating a bilateral agreement in matters of physical education and sport.
“The Government of Canada and the Government of El Salvador have reached an agreement to have Canada help in the development of sport in El Salvador,” explains Lachance. “The President and the Executive Director of the National Sports Institute of El Salvador came to us and asked if we were interested in helping to train their high performance coaches and we thought it was a great opportunity to promote some of our programs.”
He adds: “And with Dave, he’s one of the best teachers in Canada when it comes to the technical aspect of the game.”
It seems that the Central American country can use the help to get over the hump in regards to coaching development in baseball. According to Ruben Vasquez Alfaro, the Executive Director of the NSI in El Salvador, this is good beginning.
“Our development programs here have been much better than in years past but we are still in need of improvement,” says Vasquez through e-mail. “We hope that this can establish an ongoing cooperation and exchange opportunities on a long term basis.”
Baseball Canada has already established similar relationships with other countries such as Portugal and Australia with the exchange of programs such as the National Coaching Certification Program and Rally Cap. Now they are looking to do similar things with El Salvador.
El Salvador, which translates to “The Savior”, is a country that has seen it fair share of disasters over the last 30 years, from civil war to devastating earthquakes and severe volcanic activity, the chance to revitalize the nation through sport and paint a positive picture is a welcomed opportunity.
“When you’re playing a game, for the most part you would like to think that it’s not political,” says Dave Robb. “All those kinds of barriers, all those walls break down because of the purity of sport.”
“Now in all sports, when you’re dealing with countries it can be very political,’ adds Robb. “But reaching out to promote the pure enjoyment of the sport and the spirit of competition is what we’re looking for.”
Neither Lachance nor Robb know what to expect once they arrive in El Salvador, but they are eager to help promote the game and share their passion for baseball with a country looking to rebuild its identity.
