The Straley Project Presents
Vias Baseball
Baseball Is What Brings Us Together.
The Experience Is Bigger Than The Game.
Vias Baseball creates humanitarian baseball experiences that bring teams from the United States to the Dominican Republic to compete, learn, serve, and build relationships.
Our Story
Built Through 25+ Years in the Dominican Republic
Our connection to the Dominican Republic began long before Vias Baseball.
Brian Straley first arrived in the Dominican Republic in 1998. The friendships and relationships formed during those years continued long after he returned to the United States.
Over the next 25 years, those relationships grew to include families, communities, coaches, players, schools, churches, and baseball programs throughout the country.
Eventually, those relationships helped create The Straley Project, a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit working year-round with Dominican youth through education, mentorship, baseball, and softball.
Vias Baseball grew from that same foundation. Baseball gives us a way to bring young people from two countries together through a game they already share.
Why We Bring Teams Here
Come to Play.
Come to Learn. Come to Serve.
Players come to experience Dominican baseball firsthand. But the experience reaches beyond the field — into the culture, communities, relationships, and everyday life of the Dominican Republic.
01
Compete
Play against Dominican teams, train alongside local players, and experience the intensity and passion of baseball in the Dominican Republic.
02
Learn
Experience Dominican baseball culture firsthand, visit professional development facilities, meet local coaches and players, and learn about the country beyond the resorts.
03
Serve
Spend meaningful time in local communities and participate in service connected to real needs and the year-round work of The Straley Project.
04
Connect
Baseball creates an immediate common language. We use that connection to help players build relationships and experiences that continue long after the final game.
The Straley Project + Vias Baseball
One Mission.
Two Ways Baseball Creates Opportunity.
Vias Baseball is presented by The Straley Project. Both are built from the same relationships in the Dominican Republic and the belief that baseball can be a bridge between people, cultures, and opportunities.
Year-Round in the Dominican Republic
The Straley Project
The Straley Project is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit working year-round with Dominican youth through education, mentorship, baseball, and softball. Baseball opens the door, but education, personal development, and opportunity are the larger goal.
Humanitarian Baseball Experiences
Vias Baseball
Vias Baseball brings teams from the United States to the Dominican Republic to compete, train, experience the culture, serve in local communities, and build relationships with Dominican players and families.
The Experience Continues After Your Team Goes Home.
When a Vias Baseball team comes to the Dominican Republic, they aren't simply visiting a destination. They're entering communities where relationships already exist and where The Straley Project continues working throughout the year.
Learn About The Straley ProjectOur Connection to the Dominican Republic
More Than A Destination
The Dominican Republic isn't simply where these experiences take place. It's where our friendships are, where The Straley Project works throughout the year, and where relationships with coaches, players, families, and communities make these experiences possible.
Relationships
For more than two decades, we've built relationships with players, coaches, families, schools, churches, and community leaders throughout the Dominican Republic. Read some of those stories in Stories From The Sandlot .
Experience
Our understanding of the country comes from years spent experiencing its communities, culture, and baseball landscape firsthand. Learn more on our Why Dominican Baseball page.
Perspective
We want players to see more than baseball fields and beaches. We want them to understand the people, culture, challenges, opportunities, and everyday life behind the country they are visiting. See more in our Gallery .
Meet The Team
The People Behind The Experience
Vias Baseball is built on relationships, and those relationships start with the people in the United States and Dominican Republic who help make every experience possible.
Brian Straley
Founder
Brian's relationship with the Dominican Republic began in 1998 and has continued for more than 25 years. Those relationships eventually helped lead to The Straley Project and Vias Baseball. Today, he works with partners in both countries to connect teams with Dominican baseball, communities, culture, and service.
Brandon Byers
Partner
Brandon helps coordinate team experiences, relationships, logistics, transportation, and cultural activities throughout the Dominican Republic, helping teams experience the country well beyond the baseball field.
Dominican Coaches & Partners
Local Team
Coaches, community leaders, families, volunteers, and local partners help connect visiting teams with Dominican baseball and the communities they are here to experience and serve. Their relationships and local knowledge are at the heart of every Vias Baseball experience.
Bring Your Team
Come For The Baseball.
Leave With Something Bigger.
Bring your players to the Dominican Republic to compete, learn, serve, experience another culture, and build relationships through the game they love.
The Straley Project Presents · Vias Baseball