Bringing an American pastime to Guyana

– Guyana Baseball League officially launched

By Avenash Ramzan

After decades of watching the game on television, Guyanese will finally have an opportunity to play baseball following the launch of the Guyana Baseball League (GBL) on Friday evening at the Duke Lodge in Kingston, Georgetown.

The GBL comprises a group of Guyanese, who are working tirelessly to transform a plot of land at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara, into a baseball field to kickstart their various programmes and initiatives geared at hyping interest in the game locally.
The GBL is affiliated to the International Baseball Federation and is a charter member of the Little League Organisation, thereby affording Guyana the opportunity of competing in the Little League World Series from 2013 onwards.
At the official launch, President of the League, Robin Singh, said that while Guyana is a former British colony, Guyanese of the current and past eras have gravitated to the American culture.
Noting that many have become “Americanised”, Singh reckoned that the game, which is an American pastime, should attract the masses, especially since it is similar in a few ways to cricket.
“We, of course, have identified ourselves as British, but by the millennium, we have become very North Americanised. It is 2012 and very little of the British culture and influence remains. The younger generations have no reference point to our colonial past, and are completely swamped by American sport, music and popular culture,” Singh observed.
He added, “All of this point in one direction-it is now time to show the North Americans how to play ‘ball’. As we conquered England on the cricket field, and produced legends of the game [including] Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd, Colin Croft… and number one batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, so shall we give our kids a chance to do battle with our neighbours in the North, and Latin America, and of becoming sporting heroes in that sphere.”
In delivering the feature address, US Ambassador to Guyana, D. Brent Hardt, pointed out that while base ball is hugely popular in the United States, there is a massive Caribbean influence with hundreds of players from this part of the world plying their trade there.
“Indeed, Major League Baseball players have come from 45 countries in the Caribbean, South and Central America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Neighbouring Venezuela has had over 280 players in the Majors, while Jamaica has had four; the Bahamas six; Curacao 12, and the Dominican Republic 558!… so you now know where the real baseball talent is in the Caribbean,” Hardt said.
The Ambassador, who is a big fan of the Boston Red Sox in the United States, wished the GBL well in its endeavours, noting that the League has his unflinching support. “I am sure that in the beginning of this league, many Guyanese will be as puzzled by baseball as the majority of Americans are by cricket and that like baseball’s original enthusiasts that you too will win them over in time” Hardt posited.
He added, “I believe that the pioneering spirit that has brought us all here tonight will carry baseball forward and carry your league into success, and that one day, the Guyana Baseball League will be remembered as the founders of Guyanese baseball. And when we are all watching Guyana’s first major league player, you will be able to say, ‘we were there at the beginning; we were the dreamers, the en thusiasts, the pioneers, the founders, who brought base ball to Guyana.’”
The initial focus of the GBL is to work at the grassroots level to attract as many players as possible. The League has already signed up over 400 youths under the age of 18. The short-term aim is to have 50 fully functional baseball teams by the year 2014.
The GBL has secured the use of the Turkeyen land until 2017, by which time it hopes to get a permanent facility for baseball. A release from the League stated, “The GBL was incorporated in February 2012 with the aim of using Little League and Major League competitive baseball rules to teach skills, mental and physical development, a respect for the rules of the game of baseball, and basic ideals of sportsmanship and fair play.”
The GBL National Council Executives for 2011-2015 is President Robin Singh, Vice- president Romel George, Secretary Sadie George, Treasurer Verita D. Singh, Public Relations Officer Bryan Mackintosh, Marketing Officer Jai Narine Singh, Legal Counsel Sanjeev Datadin, and Dominic O’Sullivan, Robert Power and Paul Yearwood.