Lagos- Mike Randall, a Major League Baseball (MLB) instructor, on Saturday said that Nigeria had the potential to excel in the sport, if budding talents were adequately nurtured.
Randall told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at a one-day MLB tryout in Lagos that the Nigeria Baseball and Softball Association (NBSA) needed to engage young players regularly, to enhance their skills.
NAN reports that MLB is a professional baseball organisation, the oldest of the four major professional sports leagues in the U.S. and Canada.
The tryout is initiated by the MLB to scout for young and talented players in African countries, to advance their career in foreign leagues.
“With all I have seen so far, there are a lot of budding talents in this country, and a lot of work needs to be done for these talents to grow in the sport,’’ the instructor said.
Randall said that players with the best prospect at the tryout programme would be selected to participate in the Elite Camp scheduled for Johannesburg in December.
“What we look out for in a player is how fast a player can run, how well a player can throw, field and bat a ball on the pitch,” he said.
No fewer than 30 players across the country participated in the programme held at Igbobi College, Yaba.