Rafael Tejeda, the president of the Mariachis de Guadalajara baseball team, had a recent an audience with Pope Francis, during which the head of the Catholic Church blessed one of the team’s jerseys.
The Mariachis have teamed up with the Jalisco government’s “Espacios para la Paz” (Spaces for Peace) initiative, in which more than 35,000 girls, boys and young people develop their sports skills in different disciplines in around 70 sports academies.The program is also allied with the pope’s Scholas Foundation that promotes art and culture, education and sport in some 446,000 schools and educational networks in 190 countries. Some of the Mariachis jerseys now carry the Scholas logo. In addition to developing the baseball skills of youngsters, Tejeda says the Mariachis will contribute to the state government’s “Year of Peace” by hosting a special game featuring celebrities from various fields, with the funds earmarked for the Scholas Foundation. Other local professional sports teams and individuals, including boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and golfer Lorena Ochoa, are also in involved in the “Academies for Peace” program.