The State Department’s first-ever joint baseball and softball program sent MLB Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin and Olympian Natasha Watley to India as Sports Envoys in Febuary 2013. Working with MLB and USA Softball, ECA designed this exchange to encourage youth participation in sports. Joe Logan, a former player with the Montreal Expos organization and coach of the Orlando Reds, accompanied the envoys. The Sports Envoys kept to a fast-paced schedule of activities in New Delhi and Imphal. In both cities, they led baseball and softball clinics for underserved youth and their coaches and engaged in dialogue on the importance of respect for diversity on-and-off the field.
