Sports have always been part of our cultural scene. Curaçao is stacked with young and talented athletes who are proudly representing their Caribbean roots on international level. Many of these athletes have been playing a sport since early childhood. Soccer and baseball are the most important sports on our island and the majority of our talents have been playing these sports at a very young age. Development from sport goes beyond learning new physical skills. Sport helps children develop better ways to cope with the highs and lows of life. While growing up, it is important to make the decision to take the sports to a professional level or not. Island Sportlight had an interesting interview with Junior Martina who talked about the development of his career in sports. Since childhood he was fascinated with soccer, but one interesting twist took him into the baseball industry. Life takes unexpected turns!
Junior Martina was born in Curaçao but when he was a one-year-old baby he moved to the Netherlands with his parents. Junior has a diverse background; his mom is from Saint Vincent and his father is from Curaçao. His mom moved to Curaçao when she was a teenager and later in life she met Junior’s father. Junior, who is now 23 years old, spent most of his teenage years in the Netherlands. “After I moved to The Netherlands, we did not go back to Curaçao. Honestly, I did not know much about the island since I grew up in the Netherlands” Junior says at the beginning of the interview.
“I started playing soccer in the neighborhood with my friends. Soccer is by far the most popular sport in the Netherlands. On the other hand, baseball is a minority sport here. As I got older I got in touch with other a friend from Aruba who was also living in my neighborhood and this is how I got introduced to baseball. His dad was coaching a team at that time I decided to join” he explains.
At a young age, Junior liked playing sports and was always in the neighborhood with friends playing either soccer or baseball. “When I was about 10 years old, I started enjoy playing baseball. I fell in love with the sport and decided to take it on a more serious level. I decided to stop playing soccer to focus completely on baseball” he continues.
While he was growing up he started to visit Curaçao again. He got in touch with different baseball coaches on the island and was invited to participate at several tryouts with the presence of scouts for high schools and colleges. Like the other dedicated teenagers, he also wanted to become a professional baseball player. “When I was invited to Curaçao to participate at these tryouts, I started to get to know the island as well. Going to my hometown and play my favorite sport was definitely a beautiful experience,” Junior says.
At one of these tryouts, his life took an interesting twist. A high school team approached him with an offer. This was the first and important step for Junior to work on his dreams and to become a professional baseball player. So many baseball players want to take the sports to a professional level, but it is the time and grind you put in is what gets you there. This is what Junior knew from the beginning and he was ready to take the necessary steps to reach that goal. The best way for him to get noticed and to reach a higher level in baseball was to visit Curaçao for these tryouts and be ready to make the transition from the Netherlands to the United States.
In 2017 he visited a high school in Oklahoma, where he stayed for about a half year and played 4-5 games. After graduating high school he went to Western Oklahoma State for Junior College. “I adapted pretty quickly to the life in the United States. The city was really quiet and I was only focused on my baseball career. Playing baseball at Junior College taught me that grind, hard work and dedication are the important ingredients to make it to the next level. Like I said before, baseball is a minority sport in the Netherlands and for so many of us, it was just a hobby. When I arrived in the United States, it was a whole different ball game. Every player wants to sign with a professional team. If you have a dream, it is definitely achievable through hard work, grinding, dedication and sacrifice. My focus was to take baseball on a higher level and I was working hard to achieve this goal” he tells.
After playing two seasons in Junior College, Junior kept the attention of several MLB teams. “My coach told me that different teams were interested in working with me and that I had a great chance to get drafted.” Junior continues. In round 16 of the 2019 MLB draft, the Washington Nationals called Junior Martina’s name. When we asked him how it felt to be called, he said: “Honestly, I was not surprised. I was already told that they would call me, but I just was not sure about the time frame. Of course it was a dream come true, but at the same time somehow it felt normal and I did not feel many emotions. Honestly, I expected it. On the other hand, my family was in the Netherlands, so I could not celebrate this achievement with them. I was happy reaching this goal, but it was also time to continue grinding to reach higher: to play in the Major Leagues!”
Playing baseball in the Minor Leagues can be tough. Your mindset plays a huge roll in your road to success. “Right now, I have two seasons under my belt. In 2019 I was part of the Low A team and I played the short season. This was more a learning season and adapting to pro ball” he says. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the pandemic. For a lot of players, it was a long offseason and with no certainty about future games. “I was in Curaçao for most of the offseason and did not play many games. I was focusing on my training and preparing myself for future games. After a couple of months of uncertainty we were told that in 2021 we could be back on track again.”
Junior received a call to join the High A and full season teams. This means that he could play double the amount of games compared to his first season in 2019. “2021 was a great year for me. I learned a lot and I also got to feel how playing every day feels like. It is not an easy thing to do. I can tell you that I blocked out everything and was completely focused on my baseball career. I did not have a great start of the season, but as the games went by, I started to improve. It was all about keeping a strong mindset because you can have a bad game one day, but you need to make sure that it doesn’t affect your future games. A brand new day with a brand new start and fresh attitude” he continues.
After ending the season on a positive note with great feedback from his coaches, Junior was called to join the National team of the Netherlands for the European Championship in Italy where they became champions. Immediately after this great achievement, he had to join the Netherland U23 team in Mexico for the World Cup where they reached the 10th position. “You can imagine how tired I am right now, but at the end of the day, I will not complain. Baseball is what I love doing and I will do whatever to make it to the next level” Junior says.
Right now, it is offseason and Junior is taking a time off in the Netherlands to spend with his family. He is also focusing on his trainings. “I was told by my coaches that they want me to be a utility infielder and to continue working on my power of offense. I received great feedback from my coaches regarding the past season. This gave me the boost to continue pushing and to one day reach the Major Leagues!”
