Nigeria
Nigeria is the second African country Angels at Bat supplied equipment to; the first shipment to Nigeria occurred in 2016. Since then, Angels at Bat has grown to facilitate baseball programs in two different Nigerian states.
1. Ekiti State
Angels at Bat's efforts in Ekiti State have been lead by Oluwafemi "Femi" Aina. Femi runs Ekiti Kete Little League which welcomes dozens of kids around Ado-Ekiti to play and train in baseball and softball. Since 2016, Angels at Bat has continued to send equipment to Femi and his group.
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2. Kwara State
In 2021, Angels at Bat began its partnership with John Peter Imonikhe and Baseball Tomorrow Academy. In what began as a simple email asking for support in the form of an equipment donation, our partnership has grown immensely in just a few years. Baseball Tomorrow Academy recently chartered with the Babe Ruth League widely known in the US. This allows them to be eligible to compete for international tournaments. Beyond establishing themselves administratively, this group has introduced and trained baseball in dozens of schools throughout southwestern Nigeria.
The Story of Phillip
When Aina reached out to us, he also mentioned that one of his players' gloves was recently sent to Williamsport and put in the World of Little League Museum. He told us about this boy named Phillip who made his own glove out of cardboard. We were amazed to hear this because we had read a story about this homemade Nigerian glove that is being featured in Williamsport (to read more about Phillip's story, clink this link).
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Inspired by the passion Phillip has for the game of baseball, we knew that we had to get equipment to him and his teammates. As a part of our first shipment to Nigeria, we made sure that Phillip would get a quality glove. We happily sent Phillip and his teammates plenty of equipment, and gave him a choice in a couple of gloves. See the below images to see Phillip and his new glove as well as Aina and his many proud players.
