SandyBeach
02-15-2005, 07:40 AM
American teens bond with Cuba
Posted on Thu, Feb. 10, 2005
BY ANITA SNOW
Associated Press
Ten members of a Chicago-area teenage softball team were in Cuba this week on one of the few types of visits still allowed under restrictive U.S. travel policies.
http://slo-pitchfun.com/Cuba/images/player__catchingA.gif
HAVANA - Through gestures and bits of each other's language, teenagers Mara Blesoff of the United States and Lessys Rusindo of Cuba communicated animatedly during a break in their softball game....
...Mara is among 10 Chicago-area girls who, along with their coaches and many of their parents, are in Cuba this week on a U.S.-government approved sports exchange -- one of the few remaining categories under which Americans can visit the communist island legally...
...The Bush administration tightened restrictions on Cuba travel last summer, slashing all so-called ''people-to-people'' travel that was encouraged under former President Clinton as a way to plant democratic ideals in the country.
SHORTER TRIPS ARE OUT
In the push to cut off funds to Fidel Castro's economy, U.S. academic travel was largely restricted to courses of at least 10 weeks, eliminating some of the shorter trips American officials complained were pure tourism masquerading as educational travel. Sports exchanges were unaffected.
''We didn't have any problem at all with our license,'' said Mara's father, Mark Blesoff, an attorney from Oak Park, Ill., who founded the Windmills fast-pitch softball organization 16 years ago. His daughter, Jamine, 25, a former Windmills player, came on the trip as a coach...
...The Windmills left behind team jerseys and shorts, batting helmets and equipment still being used this year.
''We are always delighted to receive them,'' Miguel Acosta Serrano, president of the Cuban Softball Federation, said at Tuesday's game. ``We hope more American teams will come here to play softball with us.''
more at
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/10860938.htm?1c
Posted on Thu, Feb. 10, 2005
BY ANITA SNOW
Associated Press
Ten members of a Chicago-area teenage softball team were in Cuba this week on one of the few types of visits still allowed under restrictive U.S. travel policies.
http://slo-pitchfun.com/Cuba/images/player__catchingA.gif
HAVANA - Through gestures and bits of each other's language, teenagers Mara Blesoff of the United States and Lessys Rusindo of Cuba communicated animatedly during a break in their softball game....
...Mara is among 10 Chicago-area girls who, along with their coaches and many of their parents, are in Cuba this week on a U.S.-government approved sports exchange -- one of the few remaining categories under which Americans can visit the communist island legally...
...The Bush administration tightened restrictions on Cuba travel last summer, slashing all so-called ''people-to-people'' travel that was encouraged under former President Clinton as a way to plant democratic ideals in the country.
SHORTER TRIPS ARE OUT
In the push to cut off funds to Fidel Castro's economy, U.S. academic travel was largely restricted to courses of at least 10 weeks, eliminating some of the shorter trips American officials complained were pure tourism masquerading as educational travel. Sports exchanges were unaffected.
''We didn't have any problem at all with our license,'' said Mara's father, Mark Blesoff, an attorney from Oak Park, Ill., who founded the Windmills fast-pitch softball organization 16 years ago. His daughter, Jamine, 25, a former Windmills player, came on the trip as a coach...
...The Windmills left behind team jerseys and shorts, batting helmets and equipment still being used this year.
''We are always delighted to receive them,'' Miguel Acosta Serrano, president of the Cuban Softball Federation, said at Tuesday's game. ``We hope more American teams will come here to play softball with us.''
more at
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/10860938.htm?1c