The Importance Of Baseball: Improving The Economics Of Developing Countries

The Dominican Republic, Nigeria and Honduras are all considered developing countries. A developing country “is a country having a standard of living or level of industrial production well below that possible with financial or technical aid; a country that is not yet highly industrialized”. These countries are in need of something that will give their economy the boost it needs. Baseball can greatly improve the economics of developing countries such as the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, and Honduras.

Baseball has a presence in each of these three countries today. The Dominican Republic provides more professional baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) than any other developing country in the world (Lagesse, 2016, para. 2). Also in Nigeria,

For example, the World Baseball Classic is a tournament that is held every four years and it pits sixteen national teams against each other (“World Baseball Classic”, n.d.). These competitions are competitive, yet friendly games. Also, for the past six years Cuba and the U.S. have sent their national teams to play against each other in a similar baseball game (USA Baseball, 2016). It is commonly known that Cuba and the United States don’t have the best of relationships, but through these baseball games tensions between the countries has eased, which in turn has allowed for economic relations to develop between these countries. Finally the Goodwill Tours are games that the U.S., Canada, Cuba, and many other countries send teams of players, boys and girls, ages 8-21 to play a competitive baseball game (“About Caribbean Baseball Goodwill Tours, 2017). These games have a similar effect on the economies of the countries involved as the games played between Cuba and the United States. However, the big difference in these two games is that the Goodwill Tours are youth games. This shows how even youth baseball can have a positive effect on the economies of countries. Youth baseball leagues can also set up a dependable way to secure the life of baseball within a country. By setting up youth leagues it will create a way for young

For example, women in Africa who have participated in their women’s sports leagues have been given an opportunity to boost their status in society (“Hidden Gender”, 2016). Since women in Africa have gained a boosted social status it has allowed them to become a more influential part of the economy, it also provides a way for women’s conditions and the way they are treated in these underdeveloped countries to improve. As said in the article “Scoring For Gender”, “Women are more visible in sport now than ever before: Of a total of 997 athletes, only 22 women competed, for the first time, at the 1900 Games in Paris. The London 2012 Olympics was the first Games in which women competed in every sport of the Olympic programme. In Rio, approximately 4,700 women—45 percent of all athletes—will represent their countries in 306 events.” (“Scoring For Gender”, 2016). This shows how women are becoming more and more involved with sports in different countries, which will provide them with a similar chance to boost their social status much like the women in Africa. “One Win Leads To Another” is an initiative created to create opportunities for women that lead to an improved social status. As initiatives like this progress, women are introduced to more chances to be apart of the