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| Drills at MTTC |
Being thrown off a little bit by the teachers strike this year Baseball4Africa has been able to direct its resources outside of the secondary/highschool age groups here in Kenya. One of the schools that we have been working closely with this season is on the outskirts of Machakos town called the Machakos Teachers Training College, or MTTC. What is so different about teaching baseball to these students, is that they will actually carry the game with them into different schools around Kenya once they graduate and become teachers.
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| Coach Joe teaching the grip |
They have picked up the game very quickly, and have greatly benefited from having four coaches working with them. Coach Jim has been here every year for the past 12 years teaching, it is my 3rd time helping out, Coach Jack just graduated university and flew out from NY to help, and Coach Joe recently wrapped up a baseball teaching program in Ethiopia and is now here for Baseball4Africa as well. So we have a great team with lots of energy and I'm very glad to see it put to such good use.
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| This could be any sandlot in the world |
The teachers college team is big enough to make two baseball teams that can play against each other. Usually we will start out with some drills, then work our way into a short scrimmage game before the boys have to head off for dinner. It is great to see such improvements over the short time we have been working with them. Fly balls and pop ups are starting to be caught, runners are getting thrown out at first base, and batters are starting to lay off the bad pitches. It really is the little things that mean a lot when you are starting something from scratch like this.
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| Will he hit it? |
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| Ready to bat at the make-shift plate |
And with the increase in knowledge and confidence comes an outburst of the individual players personalities and enthusiasm. We have seen smiles all along but now those smiles are joined by laughing, cheering, and trash talking which makes baseball so much fun to play with your friends.
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| Cheering for another day of baseball in Kenya |
Being thrown off a little bit by the teachers strike this year Baseball4Africa has been able to direct its resources outside of the secondary/highschool age groups here in Kenya. One of the schools that we have been working closely with this season is on the outskirts of Machakos town called the Machakos Teachers Training College, or MTTC. What is so different about teaching baseball to these students, is that they will actually carry the game with them into different schools around Kenya once they graduate and become teachers. 
They have picked up the game very quickly, and have greatly benefited from having four coaches working with them. Coach Jim has been here every year for the past 12 years teaching, it is my 3rd time helping out, Coach Jack just graduated university and flew out from NY to help, and Coach Joe recently wrapped up a baseball teaching program in Ethiopia and is now here for Baseball4Africa as well. So we have a great team with lots of energy and I'm very glad to see it put to such good use. 
The teachers college team is big enough to make two baseball teams that can play against each other. Usually we will start out with some drills, then work our way into a short scrimmage game before the boys have to head off for dinner. It is great to see such improvements over the short time we have been working with them. Fly balls and pop ups are starting to be caught, runners are getting thrown out at first base, and batters are starting to lay off the bad pitches. It really is the little things that mean a lot when you are starting something from scratch like this. 
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