Whalley Little League star receives special travel exemption
It turns out Dio Gama, the 13-yearold baseball star from Whalley, isn’t going to miss out on representing Canada at the Little League World Series.
The federal Immigration Department will issue Dio a temporary-resident permit in order to allow him to accompany his team to Williamsport, Pa.
Dio was originally told by his immigration lawyer that because he had uncertain status in Canada due to his family’s ongoing efforts to win refugee status, he likely wouldn’t be readmitted to the country if he travelled to the U.S. for the Little League World Series.
Reached at home on Wednesday afternoon, Dio and his dad Noe said they had just been told Dio would be able to travel.
“I’m really excited,” Dio said when he heard the news. “We’re jumping around.”
He said he had been thinking about what opportunities in the future playing in the Little League World Series might bring, and now was feeling relieved that this might come to be. Many people had been in touch with him, he said.
“I want to thank everyone for their support.”
His dad said if the news was true, he was thrilled for his son.
“My son was broken into 100 pieces,” when he was told he couldn’t go to the World Series, he said. The elder Gama first came to Canada and began his dream of chasing refugee status in 2008.
“It’s a blessing to be here (in Canada). The people are so wonderful. When I hear my son say, ‘I want to play for my country,’ it’s amazing.”
Dio will now fly to the tournament on Thursday, accompanied by a family friend.
The family met with their member of Parliament, Ken Hardie, this week. Hardie and his staff met with the family and saw that Dio was eligible for such a permit and got in contact with senior officials in Ottawa. “We’re really delighted,” Hardie said.
Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen then intervened and issued the permit on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
A senior immigration official told The Canadian Press the $200 application fee for the permit will be waived. Dio was instrumental in his team making it to the Little League World Series: head coach Mike Marino says he’s one of the team’s best hitters and a role model for his teammates.
Canada is looking to make history at the Little League World Series in Pennsylvania this week by hoisting the tournament trophy for the first time.
And Mike Marino, the head coach of Canada’s representative this year in Williamsport — the Whalley Major Allstars from Surrey — believes he has the perfect team to do it.
“To be honest, we’re pretty confident,” Marino said Wednesday. “I think we’re ready to shock some people here, I really do.”
Canada, one of 16 teams battling for the prestigious Little League World Series title, opens play Friday against Latin American representative Panama.
Whalley advanced to the annual international tournament by winning the Canadian championship last weekend in Mirabel, Que., going undefeated on a title run that was capped with an 11-0 mercy rule win over Nova Scotia on Saturday.
The team arrived at the Little League complex in Williamsport — described by Marino as “like Disneyland on steroids for baseball people” — on Sunday night after an eight-hour bus trip from Montreal.
They ’ve spent a whirlwind week practising at the complex, doing interviews with ESPN and going through scouting drills with the Baseball Factory.
‘SMILES ... ALL THE TIME’
“It’s funny because we don’t really think they know the extent of how big this is,” Marino said of the team’s attitude heading into the tournament. “They ’re excited and it’s awesome and they ’ve got smiles on their faces all the time, but I really don’t think they’ve realized yet what they ’ve accomplished and where they are.”
Canada has appeared in every Little League World Series since 1952 (the tournament began in 1947), when a team from Montreal made the quarter-finals.
A Stoney Creek, Ont., squad was runner-up in 1965 and two Canadian teams finished third — one from Trail in 1990 and one from Langley in 1998 — but those results predated the two-bracket format introduced in 2001 that split U.S. teams from international entries. The winners of both sides meet in the championship final.
Last year’s Canadian representative from White Rock lost in the international semifinal. A team from Whalley also made the international semi in 2005.
Marino said he doesn’t know much about Panama’s team, aside from a few stats and any preliminary info he’s gained from sizing the Panamanians up in the hallways and dining hall at the tournament grounds. But he expects the level of competition in Williamsport to be stiffer than what Whalley is used to.
“I think more of these teams are like us. They don’t just have one good pitcher, they have three or four. They don’t have one or two guys who can hit the ball, the whole team can hit. Their quote-unquote bottom-end players would be starters on any other team,” Marino said.
Marino called right-handed pitcher/outfielder Ian Huang, who throws up to 70-plus miles per hour, one of Canada’s top players heading into the tournament. The Baseball Factory, which spends time scouting teams in Williamsport before the tournament, noted Huang ’s “great mechanics” and “advanced delivery” in a report on its website.
But Marino said it’s his team’s depth that’s been most impressive.
“That’s how we’ve been so successful and that’s what got us here,” Marino said. “We’re so talented one through 12, all of them.”
Whalley’s national championship and trip to Williamsport is special for Marino on more than just the coaching level.
He played for Whalley as a kid and his son Joey is the team’s shortstop. Four other fathers of Whalley players also played for the organization in their youth.