By Merv Moore
Sports Director & Head Baseball Coach
People ask me all the time what it’s like building a baseball organization from the ground up. I usually smile and ask if they’ve got an hour.
It’s equal parts thrilling, exhausting, and the most rewarding work I’ve ever done. You have a vision of a future diamond filled with talent, and you chip away at it every single day, turning “someday” into “this season.”
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Lately, I’ve been getting that same excited, familiar feeling watching the journey of Baseball United. If you haven’t heard, they’re the first professional baseball league focused on the Middle East and South Asia.
Last November, they made history by playing the first-ever professional games in Dubai. Let me tell you, seeing that field packed with fans from over 50 countries gave me chills. It felt familiar.
That’s because, in many ways, the founders of Baseball United are doing on a professional, international scale what we’re trying to do here in Bohol on a community level.
We’re both trying to grow the game’s roots in fertile but untapped soil. And frankly, I’m rooting for them like they’re our home team. Their success could mean the world for our kids.
The Parallels: Building a Field of Dreams, Literally and Figuratively
When you start with just an idea, your first milestones are all about proving it can work. For Baseball United, that was pulling off those first showcase games in Dubai and Abu Dhabi—creating a major-league-quality event where many said it couldn’t be done.
For the Bohol Coconuts, it was securing our first plot of land in Cambanac and signing up our first 50 eager kids. It’s that first tangible proof that the dream is more than just a dream.
The next challenge for any new venture is building a credible talent pipeline. This is where our stories sync up perfectly.
Baseball United isn’t just importing stars; they’re on a mission to develop regional talent. They’ve signed the first professional players from countries like Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. They’re showing kids in Mumbai and Cairo that a career in baseball is possible. That’s their “farm system.”
Our version? Our “Class of 2026” plan and our network of 17 affiliate clubs across Baclayon. We’re not waiting for talent to magically appear; we’re systematically scouring every barangay, giving every kid with an ounce of interest a glove and a chance.
We’re creating our own talent pipeline from the ground up, so we have a steady stream of players moving from our Rookie League to our Single-A equivalent and beyond.
Finally, both ventures are about changing the landscape. Baseball United is literally changing skylines, working to build new ballparks in Karachi and Bangalore.
We’re changing the landscape here by turning empty lots into fields of dreams and making “baseball practice” as common a after-school activity as basketball.
Why Their Success is Our Pathway
This is the most important part. Baseball United’s vision isn’t just to be a league—it’s to be a gateway. As they grow and add more teams across the Middle East and Asia, they will need more players. They will need scouts looking everywhere for talent, including right here in the baseball-rich Philippines.
For our top Bohol Coconuts teenage prospects, the traditional pathway has been narrow: hope for a MLB international signing or a spot on a team in Japan. South Korea, or Taiwan.
Baseball United can offer another legitimate, professional option closer to home. A chance to play high-level, paid baseball while representing our region on an international stage. It expands the map for our players and makes our development work here even more valuable.
The Bottom of the Ninth
Starting a league and starting a youth organization both require a stubborn belief in the future. You face the same questions: “Can it work? Will people come? Where will the players come from?”
Baseball United is answering those questions with a resounding “yes” by focusing on world-class events and deep community development. We’re answering them by building our own complete system, one child, one club, one community at a time.
So, from one group of builders to another, we’re cheering for you, Baseball United. Grow the game. Build those stadiums. Create those opportunities. Because the stronger you become, the more pathways open up for every young player dreaming of a life in baseball—including the future stars right here in Bohol.
The more fields we build together, the more dreams get to play.
Marvin “Merv” Moore is the head coach of the Bohol Coconuts Baseball and Softball Club. He has coached in both Europe and Asia, and helped start the Mister-Baseball and BaseballdeWorld international baseball websites.
