Derek Jeter is making all American-born Marlins players and coaches learn Spanish
Miami Marlins part owner Derek Jeter has an idea that could bring the team closer together. Jeter will require the American-born coaches and players to take Spanish lessons, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.
Derek Jeter wants members of the Marlins to learn Spanish
The initiative from Jeter will not only help players in the organization communicate better, but will also bring the team closer with the city of Miami, according to ESPN.
“As the Marlins’ young Latin American players take English lessons, the American-born players and coaches will be required to learn Spanish.
On Thursday, Jeter hauled a bunch of vice presidents into a room for the first of what will be regular weekly lessons in Español.
“I’ve been to the Dominican and Venezuela,” Jeter says. “I went to Cuba with Major League Baseball in 2016. So I’ve been to those countries and tried to learn as much as I could about their cultures. Everybody expects the Latin players to make an effort to speak English. Well, especially here in Miami, if you don’t speak Spanish, you don’t fit in. I think it’s important.'”
As you can see, that edict also applies to the vice presidents on the club. Jeter is trying to make sure everyone in the organization can speak some Spanish.
Derek Jeter sees the benefits of Marlins players learning Spanish
The benefits here are pretty obvious. Latino players make up 31.9 percent of the league, according to an ESPN article from last April. Some of those players don’t speak English as their primary language. Requiring American-born members of the team to learn Spanish should help bridge that communication gap. Even small gains in that area would be significant.
There’s also a large Latino and Cuban population in Miami. The move should help players and executives on the team connect with those fans.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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