SPORTS ENVOY BARRY LARKIN PROMOTES EDUCATION THROUGH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 004175 SIPDIS DEPT FOR ECA/PE/CE (DAVIS/BISHOP); WHA/PD (DICKSON/SAMSON) CARACAS FOR PAO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO KJRE OEXC VE CO JO LE IS SUBJECT: SPORTS ENVOY BARRY LARKIN PROMOTES EDUCATION THROUGH BASEBALL REF: BOGOTA 4158 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Retired Major League Baseball great Barry Larkin visited Bogota, Cartagena, and Barranquilla from November 5th to 12th, 2008 as part of the Sports Diplomacy Program. Joined by three other Sports Envoys - Steve Laska, Joe Logan, and Matt Krause, Larkin participated in seventeen events conducting baseball clinics and speaking to students on the importance of education, teamwork, hard work, and perseverance. Ambassador Brownfield participated in numerous events, increasing the press interest during Larkin's visit. This program supported a key mission goal of reaching out to younger non-traditional audiences and Afro-Colombians and generated significant positive press coverage. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Former Olympian Barry Larkin played shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds for nineteen seasons from 1986 to 2004 and was one of the pivotal players on the 1990 World Series championship team. Currently, Larkin is a Special Assistant to the General Manager of the Washington Nationals and has visited several countries under the auspices of Major League Baseball. Three other Sports Envoys, Steve Laska, Joe Logan, and Matt Krause, assisted in the baseball clinics by providing coaching expertise in pitching, baseball conditioning, and batting. ¶3. (U) During Larkin's visit to Colombia, the Ambassador participated in numerous events - opening several clinics, hosting a reception, attending a lunch, and playing in (and winning) a baseball game with him. On November 6, 2008, the Ambassador attended the opening of the first baseball clinic in Bogota and then hosted a reception for Barry Larkin at his residence. Numerous sports figures, federation representatives, government officials, and press attended the reception. On November 7, Larkin and the Ambassador led a baseball game between two groups of children from the Fundacion Nios del Papel in Cartagena, a local non-governmental social assistance organization, as part of an anti-narcotics event (reftel). Before the game began, the children received baseball bats, gloves, balls, and t-shirts donated by "Pitch In for Baseball" and Major League Baseball in the United States. On November 8, the Ambassador participated in the coaches' clinic, a press conference, and a lunch in honor of Larkin in Barranquilla. 
¶4. (U) Larkin participated in 17 events, conducting seven baseball clinics for over 700 children and coaches and speaking to 620 students in low-income schools. Throughout the clinics and school visits, Larkin emphasized the importance of education, team work, hard work, and perseverance and said numerous times "You cannot be successful in sports unless you study hard and educate yourself." ¶5. (U) In addition to leveraging Larkin's visit to support anti-narcotics efforts during the Ambassadorial baseball game, Larkin also helped the Embassy promote the development of the Colombian Professional Baseball League and a more robust Little League program. On November 8, Larkin attended a professional game between the Caimanes of Barranquilla and the Leones of Monteria. He presented Sports United t-shirts to 25 underprivileged children and then threw out the first pitch of the game to the Mayor of Barranquilla, Alejandro Char. On November 10, the Sports Envoys attended a lunch with Little League officials and then gave a baseball clinic for the Falcon Little League, composed primarily of underprivileged children from Cartagena. ¶6. (U) Larkin's visit received extensive coverage from regional and national press. Speaking primarily in Spanish, with some interpretative assistance, Larkin shared his experiences as a young boy and as a professional player where he learned Spanish in order to communicate with his Hispanic teammates. Embassy Bogota filmed several events and produced an informative "Newsfile" segment which was distributed to local television stations throughout Colombia. Approximately 35 to 40 positive stories were written or aired about his week-long visit. After the first day of the visit, the headline in the widely read regional paper El Universal proclaimed "Barry Larkin - a Gentleman and a Teacher." ¶7. (U) From this visit, Embassy Bogota identified a number of best practices which should be replicated in future sports diplomacy events. The Embassy gave t-shirts that said "Sports United" to all of the coaches and children in the baseball clinics as well as signed pictures of Barry with the caption "Sports Ambassador, U.S. Department of State, Barry Larkin." At the end of several clinics, PAS representatives distributed these pictures to participants so that Barry could depart without being mobbed for additional demands for autographs. This was an extremely useful crowd control tool at times and allowed Barry to leave the event in a timely and graceful manner. At each clinic, the Embassy was fortunate to have local sponsors which provided the children and coaches with beverages and snacks. PAS also realized the value of having an advance team arrive several hours before each clinic to work with the local organizers on setting up the complicated logistics for each event. BOGOTA 00004175 002 OF 002 BROWNFIELD