St Thomas set for youth baseball
ANDREW DIXON, founder and president of the Andrew Dixon Foundation (ADF), says the body has received a good response to its plan to start the St Thomas Baseball League later this year. The league will be aimed at youth from four schools in the parish and start in April.
The foundation says the aim of the league is to help develop baseball in Jamaica and to provide positive opportunities for at-risk youths.
“The response has been tremendous,” Dixon said. “This is a great opportunity for the youth and the participating schools. It is our desire to utilise the game of baseball to provide opportunities that can lift young people out of difficult situations they may be facing.”
The season, which will see games being played on Thursdays and Fridays, will consist of a nine-game schedule, followed by two semi-final play-off games and a championship game.
Yallahs Primary, Easington Primary, St Thomas Hill View Prep, and Morant Bay Primary are the four teams contesting the inaugural season.
The ADF will also partner with Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), a Major League Baseball (MLB) youth outreach programme designed to increase participation and interest in baseball and softball among underserved youth.
The ADF was endorsed by the Ministry of Education in 2010 as another step in diversifying the reach of the physical education curriculum in primary and secondary schools in the country. Since then, the foundation has sponsored baseball clinics and charity events throughout the island.
Dixon represented the San Francisco Giants in Major League Baseball in the United states for six years, after being drafted in 1986. During his time with the Giants, he was the only person in MLB history to have over 70 stolen bases back-to-back.