From Strength To Strength, With Enthusiasm And Passion
The West African sun has just set on the fourth quarterly tournament in Gambia, but the incredible success of the program is already abundantly apparent.
Training Camp
The Run the Bases team has worked tirelessly over the past week, reaping the rewards for a hard year of work, and setting the foundations for further improvement in the months to come. Looking back on where the whole project began, the magnitude of what has been achieved is clear for all to see. New coaches both local and international, new children and new members of the community have been involved, showing just how sustainable and encompassing the reach of the project has been.
Looking forward to 2020, we are now truly certain that we have set off in the right direction, and with the guidance, enthusiasm and knowledge of the local communities, we can achieve many of the great things we had set out to. Even more, we can start setting our aim on targets we hadn’t even considered possible. Once again, the biggest highlights of the programme definitely came from the final competition. Played at the central Berending field, the end of week tournament is designed to show off all the softball skills and life skills the children have been working on during the previous week. From December 9th to 13th, the young athletes practice every afternoon with both the local and international coaches.
Final Tournament
During the final tournament, over 250 people from four different communities (Kartong, Madina Salam, Berending and Gunjur) were involved, with eight mixed teams contending for the final prize. Every child received a notebook, a pen and a biscuit for their participation, with the final winners being decided through a combination of values points and games won. Both the local and international coaches have found this to be an incredibly successful method to remind the children that they are required to develop as an athlete globally, and not just in their technical or tactical aspects.
Our onsite photographer Caylee Hankins was back for the second time, and was accompanied this time by Simon Cox who specialised in live action recordings. Together they caught all the action - smiling faces, acrobatic catches, and the sheer athleticism of the local players. You can find all of this and more on our social media channels,
and follow both us and Caylee for more incredible content!
The Nike RTB jerseys worn by four of the teams were donated by GearUp Sports. Thank you Mac and Nike for your generous support!
We are incredibly thankful to all those who have donated, assisted or helped in any way to make this project possible. Your help during our golf tournament and throughout the year has proved fundamental and keeps allowing Team RTB to do what we do. You should know every contribution has been invaluable and it has helped make real positive change in the world. We hope you will continue on this journey with us, making the world a better place one game of softball at a time.
all photos by Caylee Hankins
