Big week at KPI Rwanda! This week we introduced baseball. Our kids and coaches have had little to no experience with the sport so it was very entertaining to have the opportunity to show them how to swing the bat, hit the ball, throw, etc. They were easily wowed and pretty much convinced that I, Kate, “know how to do everything!” It was a great experience all around because I had the chance to revisit my childhood summers at the baseball field and, once again, use all of the hours my dad put in coaching my sisters and me.
Many people may be thinking, baseball in Africa? Yes, believe it or not but Uganda participated in the Little League World Series last year. Who knows, give us a year or two and you may see a team full of KPI superstars representing Rwanda!? We have to be prepared!
So, for Little League World Series 2017 preparation, we focused primarily on learning the basics of the game. Since we just finished a month of kickball, it was easy for the kids to understand the premise of the game, general rules, and positions. We spent the beginning of the week just going over how to play the game – spending a lot of time on safety. Then the second part of the week we split into three stations – 1) Knowing the Field, 2) Batting, 3) Throwing.
Luckily, Eric, one of our Head Coaches, is a quick study so he was able to teach the station on “Knowing the Field” and I was able to roam between all three. Overall, I was impressed!! We have a few kids, both boys & girls, who have the potential to be good players. They picked up throwing quickly and got comfortable with the bat far before I expected them too. We are at least a week or two from a game but I can’t wait to see them play!
