Press release Hungarian American Institute
Washington, D.C. — During the Summer of 2018, four Hungarian teenage pitchers will spend 4 weeks training and playing with Moose Baseball in preparation for Hungarian U-15 European Championship play in Belgium. Moose baseball, in return, will send one of its alumni — playing at the college/Semi-Pro level to play for the Budapest Reds Pro-Am Team — and provide instruction at the new Reds Baseball Academy and other European Interleague team baseball academies.
“This will be remarkable for our U.S. players, host families, and our four new best friends from Hungary,” said David Thompson, President of Moose Baseball. “We have planned a full-immersion baseball program and are thrilled to be expanding in an international direction! “
Jozsef Szamosfalvi, Executive Director of the Hungarian American Institute agreed saying, “Why should Americans, Japanese and other traditional baseball-centric nations have all the fun? After four weeks playing highly-competitive Moose baseball, Máté Belle, Zsolt Győri, Ádám Piros and Dominik Staindl – will return to Budapest as both changed young adults and probably with more baseball skill than I ever possessed, when I played on Hungary’s first National Team 20 years ago!”
Will Gibson, who played Moose Baseball for five years and delivered All-Star seasons at Wilson High School (DCSAA All-City/First Team) is now a 6′ 3″/195 lb. junior at Gettysburg College (ERA of 1.08 Sophomore year), and will travel to Europe, play for the Budapest Reds Pro-Am team, and support baseball academy programs in Budapest, Debrecen, Jánossomorja, in Hungary, and in Bratislava, Slovakia, under the direction of the Bratislava Apollos Baseball Program.
“This is the prototype year,” said Jimmy Silk, Moose Board Member and Head Coach of Wilson High School Baseball, in Washington D.C. “We hope to expand this program in 2019 through-out the 14 teams and five countries that play Euro-Interleague Pro-Am baseball. We want to bolster Central European national teams for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and enable young European players and parents see America through the lens of baseball — hard work toward individual excellence, fair play, gamesmanship to win, and yes…even how to loose gracefully.”