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Portstewart Eagles
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"The Sister Cities program is an important
resource to the negotiations of governments in letting the people themselves
give expression of their common desire for friendship, good will and
cooperation for a better world for all."
- Dwight David
Eisenhower
For many of the same reasons that President 'Ike'
Eisenhower endorsed the Sister Cities program in the 1950's, the Virginia
Mustangs of Stafford, Virginia, USA; and the Portstewart Eagles of
Portstewart, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, have formed a Sister Team relationship.
The goals of the Mustangs' and Eagles' Sister Team
program are summarized as follows:
- Create opportunities for
our baseball players in Northern Ireland and Virginia to learn and
experience other cultures through long-term relationships.
- Create an atmosphere that
builds on our common passion for baseball to stimulate an open
exchange of baseball news, tips, strategies and just plain baseball talk
between players, coaches and parents from both sides of the 'Pond'.
- Enable the Eagles' to benefit from a relationship
with a team based in a country where baseball is the national pastime and
where our youth have played the game for years - often since the toddler
stage.
- Enable the Mustangs' to benefit from a relationship
with a team based in a country where baseball is an oddity, but whose
members have baseball 'heart' and the 'right stuff' to succeed against all
odds.
- Foster a relationship that could one day lead to
team and family visits for games, scrimmages, or just plain socializing;
both in Virginia and Northern Ireland.
The
Virginia Mustangs are very excited about the Sister Team relationship with
the Portstewart Eagles and are proud to be associated with an organization
that is fully dedicated to a sport that plays 'second-fiddle' in a nation
where soccer is king. Baseball fields, instruction, and sporting goods
stores that sell baseball equipment are a rarity. There are no AAU or USSSA
leagues that build off little league baseball. No travel teams, no real
tournaments. The vast majority of the players have never seen a minor,
major, or any other league (for that matter) game. Yet the Eagles' persist,
coach Gene Powers and two Eagles' players were selected to represent the
All-Ireland team in the European Regional Playoffs of the Little League
World Series in Kutno, Poland. While they did not get past that round, they
returned to Northern Ireland more determined than ever to take Irish
baseball to the 'next level'.
During March, April and May
2004, the
Virginia Mustangs collected up new and used baseball equipment and
sent it off to Coach Gene Powers of the Eagles. Equipment included
bats, bags, gloves, balls, catcher's gear and helmets to be used by both our
sister team and by other newly forming baseball teams in Northern Ireland
and Ireland.
In honor of our special relationship
the newest team in Northern Ireland has been named the Portrush Mustangs.
Visit the Portstewart Eagles'
Website
Click on a Thumbnail for Full Image
Port Stewart Eagles Irish National
Team
Portstewart Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg
Stafford
Support our Troops!
 
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