Baseball

An awesome mixture of talents and cultures came together at the European Little League stadium in Kutno, Poland during the last week of July. After battling it out in the Semi-finals and finals with Germany, Poland and Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia won the European title, and will compete in the LL World Series championship in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in August. But judging from all the roaring in the stands, dancing at the disco and pillow fights in the dorms, all the teams went home feeling like winners."

"Little League Baseball is one of America's finest exports of good will and a proven vehicle for instilling values and leadership qualities in impressionable children.For this cherished childhood experience to flourish and benefit more than a million boys and girls in Poland, and all of Europe, a permanent training facility for volunteers, coaches, umpires and program administrators is essential.

When asked what the national sport of Japan is, people usually make one of two replies: Sumo or baseball. Sumo, with its thousand-year history, might have a slight edge, but baseball is now deeply rooted in Japanese society, too! Almost all schools, companies and local communities have their own baseball clubs. Even shopkeepers and their staff often have their own teams.

Baseball is so popular in fact that when the national baseball tournament among high school students is played most Japanese are glued to their televisions and radios for several days ...

Baseball is played between two teams: the batting (offensive) team and the fielding (defensive) team. A team consists of nine players. The offensive or batting team try to score as many runs (points) as possible. A run is scored when a player of the batting team has progressed in a counter-clockwise fashion around the three bases and retumed to the become base (the point from which he bats, or hits the ball).

It is believed that the Olympic Games originated as early as 1370 B.C. The earliest recorded Olympic Game was held in 776 B.C. In 393 A.D. the Games were banned by order of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, "the Great", and not held again until April 6, 1896 in Athens. The Games have been held every 4 years since. This year's Summer Games will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Only five countries have participated in each of the Olympic Games. Take a guess which. You'll find the answer on this page.

U.S. President Bill Clinton wrote with reference to the activities of Little League Baseball that "Contests like yours provide an exciting opportunity to strengthen our faith in ourselves and our understanding of the value of teamwork." However, teamwork is not related only to sports, but goes above and beyond them.

It is a thrill for me to be involved in this project. As a Peace Corps Business Volunteer assigned to Kutno it is my job to help both the city and Little League to reach their objectives. Considering that what one side says and the other side hears may be completely different, I try to stress the importance of good communication to my Polish counterparts and share with them the American viewpoint.

In 1986, baseball in Poland took an enormous leap forward when a Polish-American teacher from Connecticut visited Poland "to see where his dad grew up". While there, Stan Kokoska quickly realized the great interest young Poles had in all things that were American, and baseball in particular. He envisioned Little League baseball not just as a sport for young Poles to play during the summer months, but as a way to build character and foster unity and cooperation among them.

Two games, both played with bat and ball, both involving hitting, running, and catching the ball, both with their origins in traditional folk games. One originated in Upper Silesia and Opole District, and may have been transferred to the United States by Polish and German immigrants, where, some claim, it served as the inspiration t'or baseball. The other began as a game by country boys in old England, grew gradually into an organised sport with defined rules, and was exported to the British colonies.

Through its half century, Little League Baseball has been a thread that sews together the lives and memories of many people. It is a common tie, a conversation-starter, a shared tapestry of experience that stretches across the years. People meet in boardrooms and offices, in schools and universities, in clubs and restaurants, on golf courses and playing fields - and the time of Little League Baseball often comes back in a rush.