Play Ball! Road Scholar Launches its First-Ever Look Inside the Rich Culture and History of Baseball in the Dominican Republic

BOSTON, March 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Baseball may be America's pastime, but in the Dominican Republic, it's a way of life. Road Scholar's new educational adventure, The Best Baseball in the World: Life and the Great Game in the Dominican Republic, amid the Caribbean coastline, colonial architecture and the welcoming landscape of Santo Domingo, offers the opportunity to experience the game as an element of the Dominican identity.

The Dominican Republic sends more baseball players to professional American teams than any other country beyond the U.S.  Participants in the eight-day program will delve into why the sport is so popular on the island, how it has become a national obsession and how it impacts local culture. 

A sports journalist and athletes-in-training will take participants inside baseball academies and trace the sport's hundred-year-plus history on the island. Local experts and historians will also lead in-depth discussions focusing on the indigenous Taino people, Spanish conquistadors, slaves, pirates, dictators, heroes and rebels who have played a part in Dominican history. Participants in this exceptional adventure will discover the places where tobacco, cocoa, sugar and rum are produced for export.

"This program illustrates the heart of Road Scholar programming," says Yves Marceau, a director at Road Scholar.  "We're thrilled to take such a popular destination as the Dominican Republic and be able to create an educational travel opportunity to explore its history and culture beyond the natural beauty that has traditionally attracted visitors.  It's how we think about learning and travel — we look for what is culturally relevant, unique and special and create a ground-breaking educational program."

The experience will include meals that showcase local specialties in a series of restaurants in the historic center of Santo Domingo. Dates are scheduled beginning in October 2014 through February 2015.  Additional dates for Intergenerational programs for grandparents and grandchildren are also being developed.

Hansel Diaz Matthews, a local sports journalist and historian who will share his knowledge and insight on the program, says, "This Road Scholar program is very important for Dominicans because it showcases our culture, taking our national pastime, baseball, as a starting point. It makes me very proud to share the origins of this bat-and-ball sport in our country and the history of the rise of our players from humble Dominican athletes to professional stars."

For more information, visit www.roadscholar.org/21667.

About Road Scholar

Not-for-profit Road Scholar's mission is to inspire adults to learn, discover and travel. Our learning adventures engage expert instructors, provide extraordinary access, and stimulate discourse and friendship among people for whom learning is the journey of a lifetime.

Road Scholar educational adventures are created by Elderhostel, the not-for-profit world leader in lifelong learning since 1975. To learn more, please visit our website at www.roadscholar.org/press.

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SOURCE Road Scholar