Chilundu Leopards

August 19, 2016 8:06 AM

The Story of Baseball In Zambia. Courtesy Now I Know.
posted by appleses (5 comments total)

I loved playing ball as a kid, it'd be great if this sparks a larger, growing passion in Zambia.
posted by Atreides at 9:16 AM on August 19, 2016

Cool story. The success of the Toronto Blue Jays doubled the number of kids signing up for baseball this year in my association. Some of it was kids returning after not playing for a few years but a lot was first-timers wanting to try it out. They sometimes had transferable skills from other sports like hockey, but we had a few with nothing. But even then, they'd likely watched the playoffs last year and had some rudimentary idea what it was supposed to look like.

Transferring that to a culture with virtually no history, a lack of equipment, and no regular connection to the pro leagues is incredible. I can imagine the difficulties faced, but enthusiasm definitely helps. Looks like they're having fun.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 12:27 PM on August 19, 2016

Oh hey, that guy went to college with people I know. I know that guy!
posted by timdiggerm at 12:33 PM on August 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

thanks for this!
posted by shockingbluamp at 2:44 PM on August 19, 2016

There's also a great discussion on Chris's post in the baseball subreddit, where he's a regular. Some people are trying to figure out how they can best get some more equipment over to Zambia for the Leopards.
posted by mayhap at 4:19 PM on August 19, 2016