The Toronto Blue Jays Academy brought their development camp to young Cochrane area players this week, and the kids sweated through the 30-plus degree Celsius heat to learn from the experienced players.
The Blue Jays Baseball Academy is a travelling baseball camp that brings clinics to communities across Canada, teaching skills to young ball players between the ages of eight and 13 years old.
Yesterday, the academy came to Cochrane, where 110 local kids took part.
Throughout the session, kids were placed into five different groups and ran through drills designed to cover fundamental baseball skills to improve their infield, outfield, hitting, throwing, agility, and base-running abilities.
Participants received coaching from NCCP (National Coaching Certification Program) certified coaches.
Former Blue Jay and league all-star Ricky Romero augmented the coaching staff that tours the country and puts on clinics. Romero’s appearance was a surprise to the players, and one of the day's highlights.
One of the parents asked Romero – a pitcher for the Jays from 2009 to 2013 – for some advice on helping her son overcome nervousness.
Romero responded he has a son who plays baseball, so he knows what she was talking about. He added even major leaguers get nervous when they walk to the plate.
“I always tell kids they have nothing to lose,” he said.
“When my six-year-old strikes out, I tell him ‘Hey, dude, you’ll get it.’”
The retired pro was also asked to share his feelings when he walked into the dressing room for the first time as an all-star in 2011.
“It felt like I was a rookie all over again, sitting in that room with a bunch of future Hall of Famers,” he said.
Coach Craig Jacques said it was great to see such a good turnout from the community at the camp, focuses on both participation and encourages all levels of competitiveness.
“We stress fundamentals and we want kids to walk away with a love of baseball and want to participate,” Jacques said.
The camp instructors also have a dual responsibility, in that they are always looking for the elite players that warrant monitoring for the future.
Twelve-year-old baseball player Tyson Draper plays for the Innisfail Hawks. He was a man of few words when describing the experience of learning from the Blue Jays Academy.
“Fun. Cool,” he said.
His mom Janice said he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
“It’s a pretty neat opportunity,” she said. “I thought it would be great because he just started playing ball a year ago,” she said.
“And Ricky Romero pitched to the kids, which was pretty neat.”
