Only a few recruits speak English, but Robinson says his Spanish is improving.
The son of Australian swimming legend Nicole Livingstone, he is one of four Victorians The Age is profiling for a Living Abroad summer series on locals who spent 2025 far from home.
In the ball park: Robinson pitches in his first game in the Dominican Republic.Credit: Instagram
The teen says the things he missed the most during his time overseas were his friends, family and home-made food.
As he was growing up, his father, Marty Smith, played “a fair bit of baseball” and Robinson started playing as soon as he could walk. He later joined the Sandringham Royals baseball team in Melbourne.
In 2024, having left school in year 11, Robinson spent seven months in Florida training with American coach Manny Carrion before making the move to the Dominican Republic this year.
Speaking with his parents by video call each day, Robinson says he took inspiration from his mother, who competed in three Olympic Games, winning one silver and two bronze medals.
Robinson Smith at Pirate City baseball centre in Bradenton, Florida, where he will be based from January.
Livingstone advised him not to let small things affect him and to accept that there are challenges, he says.
“She has gone through the exact same stuff that I have, travelling all over the world for the great success of her career.”
Having had visits from his dad, mum and sister Ella, Robinson is back in Australia for a summer break and preparing for next year, which will begin with a move to a Pirates training centre in Florida in January.
In early January he will report to the Pirates’ spring training and minor league centre in Bradenton, Florida, but he doesn’t yet know for how long. “It’s a process, and it’s however long the coaches think I need to stay there,” he said.
He sees these overseas stints as character building and a great opportunity.
“Meeting a lot of guys who have grown up wanting the same thing as me, and who have the same dream as me, to get to the top, is pretty awesome.”
