Iowa Youth Softball Team Wraps Up Season with International Friendships
Oskaloosa Youth Softball Team Builds International Friendships Through Global Exchange. (photo provided)
OSKALOOSA, IA – A youth girls softball team from the Oskaloosa, Iowa, area is finishing up their season with international friendships. These 11 players, along with their coaches and families, traveled to Shanghai, China, earlier this year to participate in the inaugural Global Youth Sports Exchange Program. Musco and the Shanghai Baseball and Softball Association facilitated the games.
“Youth sports are at the heart of what we do,” Musco CEO Jeff Rogers shared. “We know sports are a tool to bring people together and that recreation makes a difference in kids’ lives.”
Of the 27 Iowans traveling to China for the exchange, many were first-time passport holders. Musco Director of Europe, Middle East, & Africa Chris Limpach, who also served as the team’s coach and whose daughter is one of the players, said the experience was transformational.
“It was fantastic to see them come out of it with friendships and the realization that the world is a small place,” Limpach said. “What transpired during our time together completely exceeded our expectations. I watched a group of 26 Americans, most of whom had never left the U.S., not only embrace the opportunity to see a new country and culture but fall in love with its people. I watched this team create friendships with 90 Chinese softball players that they’ll all remember for the rest of their lives. I’ve watched kids who couldn’t speak the same language learn each other’s cheers so they could encourage each other during the games. I watched pure joy on the faces of players, coaches, and parents when they saw someone from another country make an effort to connect with them, exchange a gift, or ask for a selfie. And of course, I watched the incredible Musco TEAM go above and beyond to Make It Happen in every possible way.”
While 2025 was the first year for the program, plans are already underway for it to become an annual event, with international youth also traveling to Iowa in future years. Several venues make Iowa a prime destination for the youth exchange, including Lacey Sports Park in Oskaloosa, Fareway Fields in Norwalk, and the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, where Musco is leading the development of a youth sports complex with up to ten baseball and softball fields expected to open in 2026.
Other 2025 International Youth Sports Exchange Program Sponsors
Besides Musco and the Shanghai Baseball-Softball Association, others providing support and guidance included the Shanghai CPPCC Foreign Friendship Committee, the Shanghai Sports Federation, the Muscatine China Initiative Committee, the Shanghai Sports Bureau, the Songjiang District Government, and the Huacao Town Government – Minhang District.
