South Sudanese baseball made history as Joseph Deng became the first athlete from the country to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the world's professional baseball teams.
“Joseph Deng was playing with the Dodgers for training under
the camp that is set in Uganda. Last year, in January we had the Los Angeles
Dodgers sign him to be part of them,” Mugisha Yonah, coach of the Dodgers’ Uganda
camp told The Radio Community (TRC) in an interview on Thursday.
“And today, we came to South Sudan to celebrate his signing
with the LA Dodgers, being the first South Sudanese to join and play for the LA
Dodgers.”
Deng, who has been training under the Dodgers’ development
camp in Uganda for the past two years, was selected to join the professional
team for further training.
He previously helped lead South Sudan to victory at the
Jackie Robinson Baseball Tournament in Kenya, Nairobi.
“The team had played a game in Nairobi, where he brought a trophy and won it for the country," Yonah stated.
He expressed that South Sudan is rapidly emerging as a hub for talented athletes in the sport.
“Baseball in South Sudan is really developing at a very high
speed, since they have good athletes who can adjust to all situations easily,”
he added.
“They are also very good learners. They learn quickly, and
in any game, they apply what they learn. They are always able to freely come
and go and play the game.”
Earlier, the South Sudan Baseball and Softball Association
(SSBSA) delegation met with Vice President Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, who
commended the athletes for bringing pride to the nation and described sports as
a key tool for unity, hope, and national development.
Baseball is a relatively new sport in South Sudan, first
introduced in 2018 by Mr. Shinya Tomonari with the support of J-ABS and local
youth leaders.
In February 2020, the South Sudan Baseball and Softball
Association (SSBSA) was officially established to coordinate the sport’s
development nationwide.
Since then, the sport has steadily grown in popularity among
young athletes training both in South Sudan and Uganda.
The association aims to nurture local talent, organize competitions, and provide pathways for players to compete both regionally and internationally.