Colombian kids get a taste of Chicago via sports diplomacy

When it comes to baseball, all that matters is a ball, a glove and a diamond. Plop 13 kids from Colombia in Chicago for a week, offer them a clinic each day and what do you get?

Wide-eyed youngsters, eager pupils and memories for a lifetime.

“I’m so happy,” said Nelson Arroyo, 14, a budding outfielder and youngest of eight children. “You would never imagine being here, sharing (time) with major leaguers. I’m so pleased to be here and enjoy this great opportunity.”

Welcome to Colombia’s Diplomacia Deportiva or Sports Diplomacy initiative: Encourage kids to play and take them to another country. Broaden their horizons and give them hope.

It’s what you do if you are Colombia, a country winding down a civil war after five decades and still fighting drug cartels. This program — started by the Ministry of Affairs in 2011 — has sent more than 1,400 kids from areas threatened by conflict on 110 trips to 44 countries to play a dozen and half different sports.

“There is a lot of crime and drugs back home,” Nelson said. “I don’t want to get into that kind of trouble. It’s better to be at the ballpark every day than on the street.”

Which is how Nelson and his teammates, most of them from San Antero, a small coastal town in northern Colombia close to Venezuela, ended up 2,360 miles away at Curtis Granderson Stadium at the University of Illinois-Chicago in late August, feted by the White Sox.

Royal treatment

The White Sox rolled out the red carpet, organizing the clinic in the morning and inviting the kids to see the game against the Minnesota Twins that evening. They sent a sizeable contingent to the stadium, including two major leaguers — pitcher Gregory Infante and infielder Yolmer Sánchez, both from Venezuela — as well as Luis Sierra, their pregame instructor from Barranquilla, Colombia.

“There are not too many facilities where they’re from,” said Sierra, who worked with the catchers to improve their agility behind the plate. “It’s a poor town, and being here is a great thing for them. To be part of their life right now is priceless. I’m just glad to be here and, hopefully, I made this day different for them.”

Mike Huff, vice president of baseball and fast pitch at the Bulls/Sox Youth Academy, worked on outfield drills. With the help of Juan Manuel Escobar DiazGranados, the Ministry of Affairs’ sports advisor who acted as a translator, Huff lobbed baseballs high in the air, teaching the kids how to track a ball in midflight.

“To have a country send an entire team is unique, but very exciting,” said Huff, a former outfielder who played seven seasons in the major leagues, including two and half alongside Ozzie Guillén on the White Sox.

“They seem a little more appreciative of what we are doing than the average Chicago kid,” Huff said. “My hope is that from everything we teach them today, they take away one or two things that help them achieve their dreams.”

Cris Quintana, White Sox senior director of game presentation and video production and the person in charge of putting on the show at Guaranteed Rate Field every home game, was drawn to the clinic for personal reasons. His parents are both immigrants from Colombia.

“I felt that it was important for me to be here, just to welcome them, make them feel comfortable, to have somebody that they can relate to,” Quintana said. “I played baseball growing up, so I really just wanted to be here just to give them some support. And to help translate and just see their emotion of being here in Chicago.”

Baseball advice for life

The Colombian kids shared the field with 14 other youth baseball players from three Chicago high schools, talking in English, Spanish and sign language. Very little seemed lost in translation.

“I learned about everything,” said José Miguel López, 15, an aspiring catcher from Montería, a neighboring town to San Antero. “Baseball is about paying attention to details. And they explained those details.

“What I really liked was that they talked about their lives as athletes, and about the fact that you should fight for your dreams and never give up,” José Miguel added.

Infante, whose homeland of Venezuela has been wracked by political violence, spiraling inflation, and shortages in food and medicine, emphasized to the kids that they must learn to deal with adversity.

“Honestly, you got to put those things behind you and focus on the things you want,” Infante said. “That’s what I tell people: ‘If you feel things are bad, don’t focus on that, don’t look at it that way. Focus on your career, on what you want.’

“Every day, go to practice. Play hard every time you cross the lines. Work hard,” Infante added.

Loving Joey Bats

The kids were enthusiastic and receptive. If they weren’t quite clear about the history of Colombians in Major League Baseball — which starts with Luis “Jud” Castro in 1902 and totals 20 players — they were current on today’s stars. When asked for their favorite home run celebration, without fail, they answered José Bautista, aka Joey Bats, and imitated his bat flips, further proof that béisbol is becoming the Americas’ Game.

“I love Yadier Molina,” said Luis Ángel Fernández, 14, of San Antero. “He has a great arm throwing to second base and also plays my position.”

Not only does Luis Ángel know his catchers, he also knows his cities.

“There’s some fine architecture in Chicago,” he said. “Especially the tall buildings. When I first saw them, I was quite impressed.”

It’s possible that none of these kids will ever reach MLB. But if Luis Ángel or any other of them becomes an architect or another kind of professional, then baseball and sports diplomacy will have served their purpose: inspire youth to a better life.

Featured Image: Clemson Smith Muñiz / La Vida Baseball

Inset Image: Sean Magner / La Vida Baseball