Babe Ruth League, Inc appoints Jamaican John Isaacs

Isaacs, who has been in dialogue with the American non-profit sporting body for some time now, formally received his official letter in late April.

As Area Commissioner, he will be in charge of overseeing the growth of baseball locally for Cal Ripkin Baseball, Babe Ruth Baseball and Babe Ruth Softball.

Confirming Isaacs’ appointment, vice president and commissioner of Babe Ruth League, Inc stated: “We truly believe you will find the position very rewarding, and that there are a multitude of opportunities to positively develop the youth of Jamaica via participation in Babe Ruth League, Inc.”

Reacting to his newest sporting role, Isaacs told Old Harbour News: “Babe Ruth has taken a different route because of the uniqueness of the Caribbean and the feeling that there are many potential stars, they have setup a Babe Ruth Caribbean organization and that will allow us to have a regional tournament every year.”

The first of that tournament will commence next year, he revealed, in which the best kids within the region get the opportunity to match their skills with invited teams from Europe and North America. As is the case in other sports Isaacs highlighted that baseball scholarships will be available for Jamaican student athletes.

He said as commissioner for Jamaica, plans are already being set in motion to establish a working relationship with all relevant stakeholders such as the Jamaica Baseball Association, the Jamaica Softball Association and the Government of Jamaica to develop the sport on the island. 

According to information from the Babe Ruth League Inc, the 70-year-old body has caters  to “well over one million players on some 60,000+ teams in more than 11,000 leagues and over 1.9 million volunteers” through its various age-group divisions, namely Cal Ripken Baseball (for ages 4-12), Babe Ruth Baseball 13-18, Babe Ruth Softball, Bambino Buddy Ball and Xtreme Fastpitch.

Speaking of his plans for Jamaica, Isaacs added that strong emphasis will be placed on developing a cadre of certified coaches.

“We have to get fields properly design for baseball,” said the sport management and marketing expert who once headed the Jamaica Wrestling Association. “Luckily for us because we are dealing with the younger age, field requirements are not that a priority, so with some innovation we can use some of the football fields that are readily available for us to start playing baseball.”

“The most important thing is to get the kids playing… and enjoying it,” he added. “One of the things we believe in is that you can only be good as the coaching you get, so part of our focus will be to get our coaches as qualified as possible, and give them tools to pass on to the kids so we can develop the best baseball players possibly in the world.”