Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic Winter Baseball/Volleyball Mission Camp

Date: December 27th-January 5th

Trip Leaders: Thomas Wurtz, 

Estimated amount to Fundraise: $1400* plus airfare to/from Miami from your specific departure city

Instructions for Applying:Insert your e-mail address and create a password on the application login page. You will be sent an e-mail with a link to the application. In the application you must choose Winter of 2012 to find the baseball/volleyball camp.  To return to a saved application, simply enter the same e-mail and the password you created at the application login page. NOTE: To get the Dominican Republic Mission to show up in the preferences on the application, you must enter your gender, the year (2012) and the season: winter. If you have any problems with the application, please contact the FOCUS Missions Department at missions@focusonline.org.

The Varsity Catholic Mission Camp Experience

When the sport of Baseball was introduced to Dominicans in the mid 1860’s the game was embraced with a passion for which the Dominican culture is known.  This passion for baseball still burns in the hearts of all Dominicans and as a result, there are actually more Dominican players in the minor and major American leagues than there are of all other players of Caribbean nationality combined.

Merging the Dominican’s passion for baseball with a passion for Christ and His Church, FOCUS Missions together with Varsity Catholic is hosting a Catholic Baseball Mission Camp in a rural Dominican town called Bánica (which is situated on Dominican Republic’s Haitian border).  In this impoverished community, we will run a baseball camp for the local children with the aim of channeling their passion for the sport to a passion for the Catholic Faith.  Our time in the Dominican Republic will climax with a New Year’s Day baseball tournament with local teams.

With the great success of our Baseball Mission Camp last year, we are excited to add a component for the women this year with the sport of volleyball. In most developing countries, involvement in athletics among the girls is infrequent and less supported. Our hope in adding a Volleyball Mission Camp this year is to provide a tremendous opportunity for the young women of Banica to reap the benefits of sport and to see the witness of faith in the athletes we bring.

This trip will allow collegiate (professional) athletes a chance to serve the poor in a radical way through mutual love of a sport.  As we work to demonstrate the benefit of bringing Faith to these two games, all trip participants will get a great opportunity to coach local youth, experience daily prayer, enter into the celebration of the Mass, and take in some beauty of the tropical Dominican Republic.

Varsity Catholic/FOCUS Missions Baseball Camp in the DR 2011

For more photos of this year’s trip click here!