The Model:

Baseball and Beyond

The IBACA program will include intensive player training in baseball fundamentals: hitting, pitching, catching, fielding, base-running, general game strategy, and strength and conditioning. Augmenting the player program will be training for coaches, umpires, administrators, scouts and other essential personnel, along with periodic seminars and conferences on topics such as sports medicine, nutrition, coaching and umpiring.

But the program will include curriculum beyond baseball as well. All participants will receive classroom instruction in computing, mathematics, English, humanities, business skills, entrepreneurship and more. This schooling will be essential for players to obtain scholarships to U.S. universities or move into careers in professional baseball. But those who do not continue in baseball are likely to benefit most, as they learn skills designed to help them find employment, particularly in Nicaragua’s growing tourism industry. This strong focus on education will enable all IBACA participants to improve their lives, even if they are not ultimately successful in baseball.

Moreover, IBACA is committed to hiring administrative and support staff from the local labor force as often as possible, working closely with the Hope and Development Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the local community through education, vocational training, job opportunities and health promotion. In these ways, IBACA will help elevate the standard of living of the surrounding community as well as that of the young men who enter the academy to pursue their dreams of playing professional baseball.