The forthcoming Little League Baseball Camp holding from December 14 to 24 in Ibadan, Oyo State has received royal blessing as the Alafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, is sets to open the clinic.
The camp, organised by Little League District 01, comprising the South West states of Lagos, Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti, will be officially opened by the monarch at the Lekan Salami, Stadium in Ibadan.
Kehinde Laniyan, the District Administrator for District O1, said in a statement on Tuesday that his imperial majesty had endorsed the programme aimed at grooming budding talents in the sport.
The statement said: “This is cheerful news and a boost that the Alafin of Oyo has promised that he will be present to officially flag off the baseball camp as the royal father of the day.
“We all know the Alafin of Oyo is an ex-boxer of repute, who retired from boxing after his enthronement in 1970, a sports loving king who always supports sports at the grassroots.”
It added that Raymond Thomas, a US-baseball coach, who will be one of the resource persons for the camp, had expressed his readiness to tutor participants on ways to improve their skills.
“Little League has been a part of my life for over 40-years, I also played in Hamilton, Ohio in the 1960s, so the participants have a lot to gain from my input,” the statement quoted him as saying.
Thomas will work alongside Coach Gerald Hall, also from the US.
The statement added that the programme was being supported by the Oyo State Government and the US Embassy.
The Little League Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organisation based in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania in the US, which organises local youth leagues in the US and the rest of the world.
The little league districts in the country are Districts 01, comprising leagues in the South-West, Districts 02 for North-Central and Districts 03 for the South-South.