BASEBALL
"Helping Kids Round First has been a big part of Working for a Dream. All of the equipment and financial support has made it possible to help kids in Rivas. Without Helping Kids Round First, it wouldn't be possible for my players to reach their dreams."
-Coach Johnny Alvarez
Working For A Dream Academy
Video: February 2018: Helping Kids Round First makes its first trip to the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua.
In 2017, Helping Kids Round First shipped their second annual ocean container of baseball and softball equipment containing over 19,500 pounds of bats, balls, gloves, and other gear!
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The equipment has been distributed to teams across Nicaragua, providing hundreds of youth the opportunity to participate in youth athletics that would have been otherwise unable to afford to play.
Video: Hall of Famer Goose Gossage discusses the impact made by Helping Kids Round First.
Big League Dreams: The Boston Red Sox sign Nixon Munoz, the first Helping Kids Round First sponsored athlete to receive a professional contract. Read the story here!
Distributing baseball equipment in northern Nicaragua
A Little League ballgame in Somoto using HKRF-donated equipment
The Rivas Bombers in a moment of prayer between games
Distributing baseball equipment in northern Nicaragua
2016 was an exciting year for HKRF's baseball projects!
In the spring, our first ocean container shipment of baseball and softball gear arrived in Managua. Over 18,000 pounds of equipment was distributed to over a thousand children in dozens of communities across Nicaragua.
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HKRF became the principal sponsor of the Trabajando Por Un Sueño (Working For A Dream) Baseball Academy in Rivas, Nicaragua. In November, the first player from the academy received a professional baseball contract offer from a major league team!
Check out our blog story on his journey!
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Author Daniel Venn accompanied multiple delegations on trips to Nicaragua. He was so moved by what he saw that he wrote Beyond Baseball: Rounding First, a full-length novel on HKRF projects across the country.
Previous Years
2015 - In March, Northern Voyage Productions traveled to Nicaragua to document HKRF's work to provide opportunity to children through the game of baseball. Check out their film at the top of this page!
Earlier in the year, the Augustana College baseball team traveled to Nicaragua. The team practiced, played exhibition games against various Nicaraguan professional teams, experienced life in the rural communities, and hosted baseball clinics. This unique study abroad experience provided a life-changing opportunity for over 40 student athletes. Senior Troy Pilkington explains how the team was expecting to teach Nicaraguan youth about the game, but the opposite came true.
Describe your image.
Describe your image.
Describe your image.
2014 - Over 1,000 ponuds of baseball equipment was distributed to rural communities in northern Nicaragua by a delegation led by Jay Bentz. The group met with the Managua Boers, the most influential professional baseball team in Nicaragua, in preparation for the Augustana College baseball team's trip in 2015. They also met with the Nicaraguan Baseball Academy. The efforts of the trips are beginning to blossom. Communities are forming baseball leagues, baseball diamonds are being improved, and we have started outfitting women's softball teams with equipment. Click here for 2014 Photo Gallery.
2013 - In addition to visiting the rural northern communities, Jay Bentz, Brad Mews, Mike Hilton, Joan and Craig Severtson made contact with the Nicaraguan Baseball Academy, started by former MLB pitcher Dennis Martinez. The baseball equipment distributed on this trip totaled over 800 pounds. It takes 200 pounds of equipment for each community to form a team. Click here for 2013 Photo Gallery.
2012 - Working alongside the Lutheran Church in Nicaragua (ILFE), Augustana head baseball coach Tim Huber, Brad Mews, Mike Hilton, Craig and Beau Severtson travel to Rodeito, Comeito, La Flor and Los Limones in the Chinandega department of northern Nicaragua (along the Honduran border). The group handed out baseball equipment, conducted baseball clinics and set the foundation for future trips in these rural communities. This trip was coordinated with help from Mike Busbey and Luis. Click here for 2012 Photo Gallery
2009 - Helping Kids Round First makes their first donations of baseball equipment to communities in rural Nicaragua on a trip led by a group of doctors and professional baseball player Beau Severtson.