{"id":5084854,"date":"2016-07-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctlatinonews.com\/cuba-usa-diplomacy-on-the-baseball-field-in-west-hartford\/"},"modified":"2016-07-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-07-13T04:00:00","slug":"cuba-usa-diplomacy-on-the-baseball-field-in-west-hartford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/2016\/07\/13\/cuba-usa-diplomacy-on-the-baseball-field-in-west-hartford\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba-USA Diplomacy On The Baseball Field In West Hartford"},"content":{"rendered":"

West Hartford\u2019s Team USA leaves the opening ceremonies Monday with Cuban flags given to them by Team Cuba. USA-Cuba Goodwill Tour.\u00a0 Photo credit: Ronni Newton
\n 
\nWithin the bounds of the baseball diamond at Fiondella Field at the University of Hartford, competition was intense\u00a0as the teens of Team USA hosted Team Cuba.
\nIn the dugouts, along the warning track, and in the stands, the spirit of friendship and unity reigned supreme as the USA-Cuba Goodwill tour officially began.
\nIn their first-ever visit to the United States, the\u00a0Cuban teens\u00a0and their coaches\u00a0are more than just a team. They are diplomats on a ground-breaking and history-making mission that is helping bridge a gap between two countries\u00a0that have been separated for decades by much more than 90 miles of water.
\nIn April, when West Hartford\u2019s “Team USA” and their coaches and parents \u2013 a group of 70 in all \u2013 traveled to Holguin, Cuba for a week of baseball diplomacy<\/span><\/a>, it gave the Americans a chance to visit a part of the world that they had never seen, and to learn first-hand about the Cuban culture. Political barriers have kept the countries separated for decades, but the goodwill tour, in allowing Americans to visit Cuba and the Cubans in return to visit America, is helping break down those walls on a grassroots level in a language \u2013 baseball \u2013 that all can understand.
\nThe goodwill exchange is great on so many levels, said Dennis Woodworth, a Nova Scotia native and longtime baseball coach who started the Canada-Cuba Goodwill Tour several years ago.\u00a0“These kids are wearing their national colors. It gives them a chance to represent their countries,” said\u00a0Woodworth, who has worked closely with West Hartford\u2019s Tim Brennan to make the USA-Cuba Goodwill Tour a reality.
\nWoodworth said that the teens on the Cuban team were handpicked not just for their ability to play baseball, but for their ability to represent their country based on their level of sportsmanship, community involvement, strong family values, and willingness to actively participate. “It\u2019s more about who they are as a person, not as a player,” he said.
\nThe West Hartford teens are also well aware of their roles as diplomats, Brennan has said.
\nFormer Red Sox pitcher\u00a0Bill “Spaceman” Lee\u00a0has been leading trips to Cuba since 1999. He has served as ambassador for the goodwill tour in Canada and has taken on the role with the USA tour as well.\u00a0He shuffled between the teams\u2019 dugouts Monday, encouraging and coaching all of the players and getting the crowd cheering.
\n“It\u2019s a very big shock for the Americans to see what the rest of the world looks like. It was an eye-opener for these kids,” he said of the trip to Cuba. When the Cubans \u2013 most of whom had never even been to Havana \u2013 arrived at Fenway Park on Sunday, “they were amazed. Their eyes dropped,” he said.
\nBut more than the obvious differences between New England and rural Cuba \u2013 where most of the cars are models from the 1950s \u2013 the Americans have gotten to experience how polite and family-oriented the Cuban teens are, Lee said.
\n“What\u2019s happening here is tremendous,” Lee said of the goodwill tour.
\n“This is great for the kids, great for my country, for America, too,” said former Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant, one of the most iconic Cuban baseball players ever to play in the U.S.. In between signing autographs, Tiant sat\u00a0…..
\n 
\nTo read full article: http:\/\/we-ha.com\/cuba-usa-diplomacy-baseball-field-west-hartford\/<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Within the bounds of the baseball diamond at Fiondella Field at the University of Hartford, competition was intense\u00a0as the 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