FirstSwing Price List: 2006



BASEBALL INTELLIGENCE(BI-Q): July, 2017(#70)

The REAL “Dynamic Duo”: Loving Parents and Role Models

In late June, the FirstSwing Foundation was honored to host the 18U Vietnamese National team and Hanoi Youth Baseball Club(original). These young “ballers”, their coaches, and some parents/families visited Seattle for 4 days to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our “Baseball Connect” program. This international baseball experience began in Morocco and Portugal, but came to fruition in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2008. It all began with a simple email addressed to MLB teams(and minor league teams) asking for someone to please visit Vietnam and teach the youngsters our greatest game. FirstSwing “stepped up to the plate” and a wonderful educational/cultural exchange began. FirstSwing has sent contingents eight years to Hanoi and the HYBC has been here twice! Bon Chay really does ROCK!! So much for so many…see attached, The REAL Value!!

And the rest of the story…..AND most important part:

The truly amazing part of this organic process is the story of Coach Tom and his wife Thuy, and what this “Dynamic Duo” of HYBC and Vietnam has done to not just empower “Baseball Connect” but to develop it into a most amazing educational baseball program. Their time, love, hard work, and financial prowess have changed not only the youth of Hanoi’s lives but so many others…from our FirstSwing delegates(youth/parents), young autistic children, small villages, orphanages, and school children(K-university), to the Vietnamese government officials that thought this baseball game was just a foolish lark that would not get to “first base”. Error for the Prime Minister: Score it E-PM!

All those great fictional parents(surrogates of middle class morality and old school beliefs) in the Parthenon of parents, need to move over to make room for this real life “Dynamic Duo” of Hanoi!! Yes, Cleavers, Huxtables, Bradys, Nelsons, Andersons, Ingells, Mr. and Mrs C, and even Atticus Finch and the Bradfords, must step aside to allow the REAL heroes of parenthood to enter!! Hyperbolic? Nope…just the facts ma’am or as Casey said, “You could look it up!” How many parents would take in 18-25 young kids and essentially provide the ultimate educational and life skills experience that these two have?? Are they in a class by themselves...probably not, but it sure doesn’t take long to take the roll as Bum Phillips once said!

Coach Tom and Thuy began in 2007 with the idea of creating a baseball program like Little League so their two boys, Ben and the Lil Hammer, could enjoy the game, learn its skill sets, and the inherent life lessons within it. They did all that and MORE! They created Little League and PONY baseball programs in Vietnam, brought in MLB envoys, built a prototypical Baseball World facility, hosted tourneys, and took the team(s) to the U.S., Indonesia, Korea, and all over the South Pacific/SE Asia. Albeit, they experienced some tough “lessons of life” and embarrassing moments, but they never quit and grew into the great 18U team they are now. These “kids” can flat out play and have proven that with hard work, integrity, commitment, perseverance, and focus, you can GET GOOD and moreover, even represent your nation as a team on the international level.

So big deal, they created Hanoi Youth Baseball Club! Yeah, and the Grand Canyon is just a hole in the ground! Tom and Thuy also built strong relationships within their own community and helped others(teams/nationals) build their own programs. It was never about winning games but developing strong responsible citizens. When the majority of the boys graduated from middle school, the “Dynamic Duo” amphed it up! They purchased two(2) homes in Michigan and Thuy brought these young men to the U.S. for higher education in Tom’s hometown. Not only did she become the “house mom” for high school kids but also had her younger son Henry with her. Think about cooking 50 eggs each and every morning and doing laundry for a bunch of teenagers for four years!!! Tom’s wonderful parents/relatives and others were also instrumental in this most amazing experience. Not all the young men played baseball in high school BUT each and everyone excelled in the classroom, in sports, and represented Vietnam with honor in their adopted home!! Many of the team have gained academic acclaim and most are going to college: Ben, their son, is going to John Hopkins and I guarantee he will be a doctor!! NOTE: Tom travelled back and forth during these years and in one particular month had 60,000 air miles!!

This B-IQ is already in “extra-innings and it could go on and easily surpass the “longest game”. Suffice it to say, that these two wonderful parents/surrogate parents, and role models have changed lives and provided the ultimate educational experience for thousands of youth. They are not just dynamic they are iconic and many can learn from them that baseball may not change the world but it certainly can change a youngster’s life! REO!!

Parenthood: It’s about guiding the next generation to find their dream and live it!

Please see attached: The REAL Value of Baseball…GAGPTH!

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download