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Touching down in Mexico on 3 November 2022, Sipelo Gadudu and Aidan Bartes, who were the chosen two active players from the Eastern Cape, prepared for the World Cup Tournament which ran from the 7th to the 13th of November.
Mdantsane-born Gadudu and Bartes from Gqeberha both fell in love with baseball from a very early age.
“I started playing Baseball when I was just seven years old and when I was nine years old, I represented the Eastern Cape Province in Pretoria playing under 13,” Gadudu says.
By the time Bartes was 13, he too was discovering his love for baseball.
At 22, he has now had the privilege of representing his country internationally at the Mexico Baseball5 World Cup!
Both Gadudu and Bartes were chosen at the trials held in East London for the selection of the National team to play the African Qualifiers which took place in Tanzania.
The coaches of Baseball/Softball mixed sport, Haylee Maree and Americo Juma, did not want to leave such talent behind.
However, the sportsmen say their journeys have not been without challenges.
“Here is an opportunity to pursue a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and R40 000 was the mountain I did not know how to climb,” reminisces Gadudu.
Both players, with the support of their team, funded their trip to Mexico through karaoke evenings, raffles and the back-a-buddy campaign.
Even though the mix-gender team came home without a victory, the 29-year-old Gadudu, who attends a local gym in Mdantsane, delights in a township boy’s dream of making international headlines.
Both Gadudu and Bartes agree that the experience of playing at a World Cup was priceless, to say the least.
