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GFDD\u2019s First \u201cDominican Get-Togethers in the Big Apple\u201d Huge Success<\/STRONG> \u201cWe want our children not to be afraid to realize their dreams of baseball but if education does not go hand-in-hand with that process, then we as adults have failed to set the right example and have not taught them the important things in life,\u201d said Pe\u00f1a, a native of Monte Cristi. <\/P> D<\/SPAN>espite the torrential rain, Saturday\u00b4s premiere of \u201cDominican Get-Togethers in the Big Apple\u201d was a smashing success. People, young and old, from all over the city, including New Jersey, streamed into School of Visual Arts where they rubbed shoulders with several of professional baseball\u00b4s most legendary players. The event was organized by the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD and hosted by its Executive Director, Natasha Despotovic. <\/P> The theme of this first Dominican Get-Together was none other than baseball – Dominican passion and pasttime, and, as Dominican businessman and community activist Rudy Fuertes put it, \u00a8part of our DNA.\u00a8 <\/P> <\/P> <\/P> GFDD\u2019s First \u201cDominican Get-Togethers in the Big Apple\u201d Huge SuccessNew York, 04\/16\/2011 \u201cWe want our children not to be afraid to realize their dreams of baseball but if education does not go hand-in-hand with that process, then we as adults have failed to set the right example and have not taught them the important things … Continue reading “GFDD\u2019s First \u201cDominican Get-Togethers in the Big Apple\u201d Huge Success”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-noticias"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4628"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dominicanaonline.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
New York, 04\/16\/2011<\/SPAN><\/P>
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As the lobby of the Manhattan art school filled up and the sound of excited children\u2019s voices pierced the air, Tony Pe\u00f1a slipped in and an immediate circle formed around the former Major League catcher and current New York Yankees coach.
Once the action moved from the lobby to the packed Beatrice Theater in preparation to see the film, \u201cThe Republic of Baseball: Dominican Giants of the American Game,\u201d a look at the challenges facing the Dominican pioneers of pro ball in the US, GFDD Executive Director Natasha Despotovic introduced the evening\u2019s program and special guests which included the film\u2019s director, Daniel Manatt; author Rob Ruck upon whose book Manatt\u2019s film was based; Yankees infielder Eduardo Nu\u00f1ez; Tony Pe\u00f1a and Ricardo Ramon, Deputy Ambassador of the Dominican Consulate in New York and official in the Dominican Sports Ministry also voiced their opinions in support of their country.
In a question and answer period prior to the film screening, one young boy timidly approached the microphone and asked Tony Pe\u00f1a, \u201cHow did you learn to play so well?\u201d
Pe\u00f1a took the opportunity to express his feelings about baseball in relation to the Dominican Republic which happens to produce the most professional baseball players per capita than any other country in the world \u2013 fully 10% of the Major League is comprised of Dominicans and 30% of the Minors.
While Pe\u00f1a was honest about the possibilities and challenges of becoming professional among his country\u2019s thousands of talented players, he could not be more emphatic about the importance of education and remaining centered in relation to one\u2019s country and family.
\u201cWe want our children not to be afraid to realize their dreams of baseball but if education does not go hand-in-hand with that process, then we as adults have failed to set the right example and have not taught them the important things in life,\u201d said Pe\u00f1a, a native of Monte Cristi.
Ricardo Ramon of the Dominican Consulate in New York seconded that idea saying that Dominicans, more than ever, need to protect their young athletes. He talked about the Orientation, Sports and Education (ODE in Spanish) program which seeks to keep young athletes in school while still pursuing their dreams of professional sports, both in New York and in the DR.
At one point, Tony Pe\u00f1a exhorted Dominican parents in the audience to
take their children to visit the DR to \u201cfeel their roots and to see the beauty of their country.\u201d
Indeed this is the purpose of the Dominican Get-togethers in the Big Apple, to fulfill the GFDD\u2019s mission of facilitating and supporting collaboration, exchange, understanding and common ground among Dominicans who live in New York and its environs and those who live in the homeland.
Did the first Get-Together achieve that purpose?
\u201cThis evening\u2019s event more than surpassed our expectations and we look forward to more of the same,\u201d said community activist and GFDD supporter, Cristina Crespin of Elmhurst, Queens.
Ms. Despotovic promised the audience that the GFDD will continue to reach out to the Dominican community in the New York Metro area and to make the Get-Togethers an ongoing event \u201cto keep the conversations going among Dominicans here and at home.\u201d<\/P>
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