Sport in the Dominican Republic
Sports are a central part of the culture of the Dominican Republic, and have been practiced in the whole country since the native inhabitants were living in the island.
Although the sport was first seen in Latin America in Cuba, baseball began to flourish in the Dominican Republic when the United States Marine Corps occupied the island from 1916 to 1924.
"[1] However, in 1921 the teams began to collect money from spectators and the championship game that year brought in over $7,000 and commercial pressures led to the sport becoming a semi-profession in the Dominican Republic.
[1] Rafael Trujillo became president of the Dominican Republic in 1930 and he helped baseball soar in popularity as the sport gained a political connection.
[1] Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947 and soon after teams from the MLB began sending scouts to watch Dominican Republic players play.
[2] However, in the 1980s hundreds of players started coming to the United States as there became "working relationships between North American and Dominican teams.
However, a highlight from the 2017 World Baseball Classic was when the Dominican Republic played the United States and won 7 to 5 in front of a record 37,446 fans at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida.
There have been a couple of FIFA Goal Programme projects that have been designed to further improve the infrastructure and facilities in the country in recent years.
Dominican Republic will also compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics for the first time as well, thanked for the U-20 team's result in the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship.
The Dominican Republic has had a quite successful national team which e.g. advanced to the second stage at the 2019 Basketball World Cup after they surprisingly eliminated Germany 70–68.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) have some players who represent the Dominican Republic, such as: The country hosted 2005 FIBA Americas Championship.
[13] Many Dominicans play at international clubs in America, Europe and Asia, like Brenda Castillo, Bethania de la Cruz and Elvis Contreras.
The first Olympic participation was in 1964 with just one athlete, Alberto Torres de la Mota ("El Gringo" )[14] in track & field (100 m).
The recent and more successful Olympiad, Beijing 2008, boxer Manuel Félix Díaz and the taekwondo practitioner Gabriel Mercedes won gold and silver medals respectively.
[citation needed] Dominican Republic hosted two Central American and Caribbean Games, the editions of 1974 at Santo Domingo, and the 1986 at lshit.
[citation needed] Luis Castillo, defensive end played in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers.
