Members of Dominican Republic softball team visited residents at Mont St. Joseph's nursing home earlier this week. (Photo submitted/Glenn McMullen)

By Nick Nielsen

Gratitude to Sask Hospitality

Team Dominican Republic showing their appreciation for Prince Albert hospitality

Jul 12, 2025 | 5:47 PM

For most teams that have come to Prince Albert for the WBSC World Cup, they have been feeling the hospitality from the city. For the team coming from the Dominican Republic, they have been trying to repay that kindness while they’ve been here.

To show their gratitude towards the community, the team from the Dominican Republic used their free time to give back to the community even though they were only here for a short time. The team made a surprise visit to the Mont St. Joseph’s Nursing home to spend some time talking and playing with the residents.

According to team Manager Jose Abreu, this is a common occurence for his group.

“One of the things that we always try to do when we go out to play in different countries and places is that we try to visit those kind of places like orphanage homes or nursing homes and visit people that need people to come and see them and make them happy. So we try to do that as a team.”

Abreu added that it isn’t just about making others happy though, and his team enjoyed the experience just as much.

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“It was great. The guys, they love it. We talked to the people there, we played with them and we took pictures and it was really, really nice. We plan to go back tomorrow (Saturday) because the guys I started hearing from Glenn (their host) that they were asking us to come back again.”

Team Canada also spent time with residents at Mont St. Joseph’s on opening day of the tournament. (Facebook/Mont St Joseph Home)

While most teams have been staying at big name hotels, the Dominican Republic’s team chose to stay at the Coronet Hotel. That relationship between the team and the hotel staff started last year during the qualifying tournament, and that hospitality is part of the reason why they were excited to come back to Prince Albert.

“Just the experience and Mona (the Coronet’s manager), the way that she treats the people when we are there is just awesome. We feel like at home, like it’s a hotel, but she make us feel like we are in our house.”

The hospitality means a little extra for the team from the Dominican Republic. As one of the poorer nations competing, it takes a lot of effort off the field for them just to get to Prince Albert.

“First we need to get sponsors to help us and support us, and our Dominican Government helps us a little bit and friends and people help us to get this and to get to different places. It has been a long journey to get here, like we went us here in Mexico and since then we started practicing and getting ready to get here. Thanks to our government as I said before, they help us a lot. Our federation, our President and the staff there. They work so hard to get money for us to come and pay all the hotels, uniforms and all this stuff. It’s a lot of money, especially for us.”

Overall, the folks from the Dominican Republic felt welcomed right into the community even though their time in Prince Albert was short, and Abreu believes they did their best to embrace being a part of that community since they arrived.

“Awesome, wonderful people, lovely people, kind people, humble people. Our gratitude to the people of Prince Albert is huge. The hotel our people stay in, Mona at the Coronet, she’s awesome. Her staff is even better. The people who are driving us around, when people see out in the street just greeting us. We feel like we’re at home.”