In an effort to improve and showcase young players, the local administrators of little league baseball have invited the presence of an international scout not only to help with the development but also to search for promising talent.

International scout John Gilmore from the Tampa Bay Rays in St Petersburg, Florida, is in Jamaica for the first time, assisting the local programme.

Gilmore was taken to Independence City Primary School in Portmore, St Catherine recently to see the Jamaicans aged from 10-12 in practice.

“I came here to see what the Jamaicans are made of, as we have been scouting players from different parts of the world and so we want to see them [Jamaicans]. This country has a great reputation for speed and athletics and so this is where you could find some great baseball players.

“I think baseball is a great sport. I played baseball all my life; my son plays baseball. Baseball is American pastime, it is a wonderful game and all we want is for everyone to learn. I think the boys are athletic. I think some of the boys are more advanced than others so it interesting to see what they can do,” Gilmore told the Jamaica Observer.

Gilmore, who has been associated with the sport of baseball for over 50 years, said that the sport has grown over the years around the world and will continue to do so.

“To me, baseball is the best sport. In the world, soccer is the biggest thing but American baseball is a huge sport. it has actually gone around the world in a number of different places, so things like American Classic is an international baseball event there are amateur activities such as the World Cup and others.

“Baseball is a great sport and people have added it to different programmes in their countries and it has been added to the Olympics as well,” said Gilmore.

Leon Taylor, assistant district administrator of Jamaica Little League Baseball, welcomed the participation of Gilmore and said this is the right way to go in terms of developing the programme and the players.

“The main of today (yesterday) is to display to Gilmore our talent here. He is visiting Jamaica to give an evaluation both of our programme and players and then he will take it up from there based on what he sees in terms of the professional stuff.

“He is looking for players and to see where our programme is in terms of development. When somebody takes the time to visit the country and to see the kind of talent we have here is a great boost for us,” Taylor said.

—Ruddy Allen