Guyanese baseball team makes international debut in Halifax

A group of international athletes will bid farewell to Nova Scotia today, following a four-day baseball tournament in Halifax.

Baseball Canada's 21 and under Women's Invitational featured teams from five Canadian provinces — plus a group of athletes from Guyana, a country on the Atlantic coast of South America. 

The team, whose players ranged in age from 15 to 25, aren't just Guyana's first international baseball team.

They're also the first female Guyanese team, period.

Three-year pilot project

Baseball was first introduced to Guyana three years ago, as a pilot project in several high schools.

Emily Ransuchit, 15, admitted she didn't have much choice about starting baseball — it was part of her school curriculum — but she stuck with it anyway.

Three years later, her dedication has paid off. 

"To be part of a female team who are travelling this far and having this experience is really amazing," she said.

 "It can really encourage others and in the future they can have more females being involved in sports."

'I'm a feminist'

Coach Robin Singh, who also founded the country's baseball league, said baseball was an easy sell in Guyana, which has a long tradition of cricket. Baseball's widespread popularity was an added advantage, and the tournament — which Quebec won on Sunday night — was a chance to do more than compete. 
 
"It's about providing opportunity for young women to see the world, play a sport that they love and inspire others back home." 

Singh said when he was deciding how to develop the sport, the choice was obvious. 

"Well first of all, I'm a feminist," he said, adding that it was the girls who approached him to ask about forming a team and competing internationally.

Then Singh, in Cuba, bumped into Andre Lachance, manager of the Canadian women's national baseball team, who told him about opportunities to play in Canada. 

International ambitions

There are women's baseball tournaments held all over the world, Singh said, and he plans to see the Guyana Kanimas compete in those tournaments too.

"We're growing. It's three years in, and making a tour this big is pretty important," he said. 

"This sport is really lovely. It doesn't just take you places, but during the game you always got a chance, you always got a shot, there's always redemption to be had — and that's always a great story."