A small white ball soared through the air and descended toward the ground. This time, the ball didn’t land in Yankee Stadium in New York, it landed in the middle of a football field in Obiliq. The players weren’t wearing matching uniforms and baseball caps, and they all weren’t men. Women, children, and men of all ages were out in the field, learning a sport that didn’t exist in Kosovo five years ago.
But last month, on the Fourth of July, Kosovars were learning as much as they could about this American game. Wooden baseball bats and leather gloves covered the field. Baseballs were sprinkled across the grass. These were seeds of a future sport for Kosovars.
“Baseball encourages all different kinds of people to play,” said Altin Balidemaj, a Kosovar participating in a baseball game in Peja. “Fast people can play well and slow people can play well. There is a chance for everyone who plays to help out.”
Balidemaj had never heard of baseball until the Kosovo Baseball Initiative (KBI) came to Peja for the first time, two years ago.
KBI is a project of Global Baseball, an international organization dedicated to teaching the game of baseball to kids and others around the world. KBI is in its fourth year and the organization grows significantly each year.
KBI had its first camp in Gjakova in 2014 after a series introductory events in the first two years. The camp lasted one week and consisted of KBI coaching different groups of schoolchildren on the basic fundamentals of baseball throughout the week. The event had more than 240 students participating throughout the week. There was a lot of hesitancy at first, as many of the children and teenagers had never seen or held a baseball bat or glove.
According to Osman Gashi from the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport, “The expectations were low, but there were great results.”
Today, more than 200 kids are actively participating and learning the game further, according to Michael Johnstone, Director of KBI.
“It is chaotic, but beautiful,” said Johnstone. “Through baseball, many of these kids have found an avenue for hope.”
Johnstone is an American who began his coaching career in California. He is a former teacher and that career took him to Austria, where he taught at the Austrian Christian School. His baseball background was quickly discovered, and he was approached with the opportunity to play in the Austrian Baseball League. After four seasons in the ABL, he returned to California where he became a coach for Global Baseball. There, he worked on coaching development. Johnstone recalls his experience as “teaching coaches how to coach” before becoming the European Director of Global Baseball and launching the KBI.
KBI has spent the last three summers holding camps all over Kosovo to teach people the basics of baseball. Though many organizations tend to focus on coaching children, the KBI does not discriminate. In Obiliq last week, there were boys and girls, young adults, and older men learning and playing alongside each other.
“Baseball is just so new and unknown to Kosovars that we want to be as inclusive as possible because we don’t know which demographic is going to like it more. Sure, we want to focus on kids because they can make the game popular by growing up with the game, but we want as many people as we can to participate so we can get this off the ground,” Johnstone explained.
In Obeliq, a young woman stepped up to home plate with a bat in her hands and stared down the American coach pitching, while Johnstone and Czech Republic National Team head coach Mike Griffin helped improve each batter’s swing. The young woman flailed at the ball and missed, swinging too early. She looked over at Johnstone, mildly frustrated that she missed the ball. Johnstone pointed at his eyes.
“Watch the ball all the way until it hits the bat,” he instructed.
One her next swing, she connected and a loud whack echoed through the air. The ball went over the heads of the first line of defenders. The others gave frenzied chase.
The batter made her way all around the bases and scored. She grinned as her feet landed on the pile of plastic wrapping that functioned as home plate.
“Our coaching philosophy is centered around making small, individual adjustments to a players swing or throw. Kosovars have natural hand-eye coordination, which is key in baseball,” Johnstone explained. “In baseball, oftentimes making the smallest of adjustments can lead to some great results.”
Johnstone and the other American coaches working with KBI aren’t the only people who coach Kosovars. Taulant Devolli is a 25-year old Program Assistant at the IPKO Foundation who has dedicated most of his free time over the past several years to establishing baseball in Kosovo. Devolli learned the art of coaching from Johnstone and the KBI.
“One of my favorite things about coaching is the look on people’s faces when they learn how to do something right,” Devolli said. “There is no better feeling than hitting a ball perfectly and running as fast as you can around the bases.”
Devolli has recently established Kosovo’s first baseball club, the Peja Mustangs. He said the process has been long, but worth it.
“We weren’t very selective in the beginning. At that point, we just wanted people to play. Now, the people who have learned, want to play more, and we now have much more support than we did in the beginning.” Devolli explained.
Devolli began playing baseball 10 years ago when missionary David Helmick came to preach the Gospel and teach baseball. When Helmick returned to the United States, he left behind the gloves, bats, and balls for Devolli and his friends to continue practicing.
Devolli said at that point he had his epiphany, “Man I really wanted to do baseball!” he said emphatically.
The conversation brought back memories to Devolli. Memories, as he described, of many of summer days as a young man playing baseball with his friends on one of their farms.
“What I love about baseball is that it is the perfect mix of a team effort and individual effort. It gives you the opportunity to show your own, personal abilities. I think its good for kids to learn to support themselves individually, and baseball is a great way of teaching you that,” he added.
Despite being one of the founders of Kosovo Baseball and one of the more skilled hitters in the country, Devolli is still learning the specifics of the game. In Obeliq on a July day, Devolli hit a ball deep into the field. He wanted to score on his hit, ignoring the barrage of the words “Ndalo!” and “Stop!” He was stopped just before reaching third base, by a defender who tagged him with the ball.
“Out!” Johnstone pumped his arm in the air like a baseball umpire, a member of the officiating crew in a baseball game.
“The key is to run until you are safe! Not until you get out!” Johnstone said with a chuckle.
“What can I say? I thought I had it!” Devolli threw his hands in the air and everyone burst into laughter.
Devolli isn’t the only pupil Johnstone and the KBI have “coached to coach”. Besarb Berbatovici, a student at the University of Prishtina, is also working to foster the growth of baseball among Kosovars.
“It is a sport everyone will like!” said Berbatovici.
Though optimistic about the future in Kosovo, he is realistic about its immediate future in Prishtina.
“We can get many people who want to play, that is not the problem. Many times, we can’t get the facilities we need. In other cities, it is a bit more manageable, but not here in Prishtina. It’s not very spacious. There is a lot of unorganized building,” he explained.
Finding a place to play is usually one of the biggest challenges for KBI. They will often rent football pitches that they can fashion into an improvised baseball diamond, but use by football teams is high, making it difficult to reserve a field for the day. The only baseball field is on the United States military base Camp Bondsteel, a considerable distance from Prishtina.
Despite the distance, the KBI has enjoyed events with the U.S. military at Camp Bondsteel. While lack of a true baseball diamond can cause some frustration during the planning and logistical phase, Johnstone said that it can be used as an advantage.
He explained that the lack of facilities has created a network between KBI and the people who run the fields they rent to use. By building relationships with the people who run the fields they use, KBI has had better luck finding more places to play.
Johnstone hopes that his work throughout Kosovo will provide opportunities to connect with other organizations. He is also working to have an exchange between baseball clubs from other nations to come to Kosovo to play, and to help coach. Czech Republic coach Mike Griffin indicated the possibility of the Czech Republic’s baseball team coming to Kosovo in the next few years.
KBI provides its own baseball gear through donations from various churches in the United States. But they are still short of adequate equipment and this limits their ability to play regulation baseball right now. Batters need helmets to protect their heads from errant pitches. Due to the diversity of people playing, there are many different sizes of helmets that are required for player safety.
There aren’t many places in Kosovo to find baseball equipment. Shipping gloves, bats, and balls from the U.S. or anywhere else is very expensive. Many times, Devolli is forced to pick up the check when it comes to supplying the Peja Mustangs with equipment or a field.
“I pay for everything, ” Devolli said. “We just need the sport to get more popular and there will be more support. The government was skeptical about us at first because there wasn’t much interest in the beginning.”
The language barrier has been a challenge for Johnstone and Taylor Pica, an American intern with Global Baseball who is in Kosovo for the first time.
“The language barrier can be really tough. Rules that are like instinct to me aren’t like that for them, and sometimes its really hard to explain the specifics of the rules, said Pica, after a player misunderstood the rules of running the bases.
“I know without even thinking that you’re not allowed to run past a base runner in front of you. But everything about this is brand new to these guys, and it takes a lot of patience trying to explain the rules when you don’t speak much Albanian.”
The KBI’s translation solution comes in the form of players who also act as interpreters. Nderc Domgjone, referred to by KBI coaches as “ND”, is a young man from Gjakova who has been playing with the KBI for two years. Since the sport has gotten more popular with each camp conducted by KBI, there is a higher demand to communicate with a large group of people.
“I really love baseball because it brings different people together.” Domgjone said, citing the diverse group that was playing on the field at that moment.
A pressing question about Kosovars playing baseball is whether parents and others will become fans. In Obeliq, several older men were learning how to play, so there seems to be some interest.
“There is a certain sense of pride from parents and grandparents for doing this,” Johnstone said, based on his interactions with family members who come to the camps.
“My father is very proud of me,” said Domgjone. “My parents are excited that I am one of the first people to do something new here in Kosovo. They are happy that I am one of the people helping it grow.”
When Domgjone wasn’t discussing his experience with the KBI, he was all over the field, translating or coaching. Though Domgjone is 17 and has only been playing two years, he provided almost as much as help as a career coach. Domgjone has proved to be a valuable asset for KBI, making it far easier for the American coaches to get their instructions across.
“I don’t know where I would be without ND’s help,” said Pica.
KBI has just finished its summer tour, which began June 27 in Gjakova. Sessions followed in Peja, Gjilan, and Mitrovica. The tour’s final stop was a three-day coaching clinic in Prishtina, with an additional afternoon session in Obeliq on the first day.
Johnstone and other coaches have returned to the United States, but Kosovo’s work with baseball hasn’t stopped with their departure. Devolli and Berbatovici, among many more, continue to host camps, practices, and eventually games.
Recently, three of the six clubs were approved as NGOs by the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport, and the other three are awaiting final approval. Once sanctioned, they will be eligible for team play.
Financially, all the clubs are required to set up a bank account with funds before they are recognized through the Ministry, along with copious amounts of paperwork. For most clubs, the regular players saved enough money over the past few years to set up the accounts.
“We don’t want these clubs just to be ‘paper clubs’. We want there to be interactions between the clubs in Kosovo after we get them registered,” said Johnstone.
Another large goal for KBI is establishing a baseball federation in Kosovo. In August, the International Baseball Federation will have a summit, and one of the topics of discussion will be whether to grant Kosovo with a federation. Earlier this summer, Johnstone thought that getting a federation in August was “very probable”. Since the conclusion of the Great Kosovo Baseball Tour and the recognition of three clubs with three more on the way has increased the prospects of getting a federation greatly. Having a federation creates opportunities for international competition, tournaments, more funding, and more clubs.
“A lot of the successes we have had are due to the work and dedication that guys like Taulant and Besarb have put in order to make this possible here in Kosovo. These guys have never played an actual baseball game and they are already some of the most passionate baseball players I have ever seen,” Johnstone added.
The KBI has partnerships with Christian sports organizations, such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Gloves 4 God.
“Faith motivates us,” said Johnstone, “but we aren’t just here to preach, we’re here to coach baseball, too. Our main goal isn’t to force anyone to convert, but if someone decides they want to learn more about the Gospel, that’s great too,” he added.
KBI and its partners along with information, pictures, videos, and important events are all listed at www.kosovobaseball.org.
The girl in Obiliq who hit a home run is just one example of how quickly Kosovars have picked up the game of baseball. Many players who attended the workouts already knew how to swing for the best contact. This year, Devolli got a feel for pitching when the KBI visited Peja. Johnstone, Devolli, and others mentioned that they are always “looking for the next step”.
To Devolli, the next step is easy — just playing the game.
“Kosovo wants to play baseball. It will be interesting to see how the next few years go,” he said. “I can’t wait to play my first game.”
(Houston Vick was a reporting intern at KosovaLive this summer in collaboration with Miami University in the United States.)
