Baseball Ministry
La Tribu de Jesus Besibol Academy
-171 Dominican-born baseball players saw time on a major league roster in 2022
-With more than 10% of rostered MLB players hailing from the Dominican Republic, it’s the dream of many boys to make it to the major leagues.
-At 16 years of age, Dominican boys are eligible to sign a contract with a major league baseball team. Often handshake agreements with teams are in place long before they are eligible to sign.
-Each of the 30 U.S. major league teams has a partner baseball academy in the Dominican Republic. MLB itself estimates that teams spend $125-150 million a year on those academies.
-Estimates are that only 2 percent of those boys will make a living in baseball. The rest often find themselves at age 19 or 21 with no education and no job prospects.
The numbers don’t lie. While there is a lot of excitement surrounding the game of baseball in the Dominican Republic, many lives are impacted for the good and sometimes the bad because of baseball. Mission Zoom is partnering with a ministry looking to take baseball and use it to make a generational impact for Jesus.
La Tribu de Jesus or “The Academy of the Tribe of Jesus” is a baseball academy that seeks to raise up young men who excel in athletics, faith, and leadership. Collectively, La Tribu coaches have decades of experience training kids to improve their game but, more importantly, in leading the local church. Along with daily practices, the coaches lead the players and their families in daily devotions and the sharing of God's word. While baseball is a dream in the Dominican Republic that many pursue, La Tribu offers something far more appealing- a relationship with Jesus. The La Tribu de Jesus Baseball Academy is using baseball as the bridge between a sport and a savior.