OTTAWA- Baseball clinics aimed at girls to help increase interest in baseball and encourage participation in the sport were recently held in Newfoundland and Manitoba. The clinics involved Women’s National Team players along with other members of the local baseball community providing instruction on hitting, throwing, running, fielding, catching and pitching.
In St. John’s, NF a clinic was held on Saturday May 29th at a local school where 45 girls were able to participate. The clinic was divided into two groups with girls aged 6-11 partaking in a morning session and girls aged 12-16 involved in an afternoon session. Running the drills were Women’s National Team members Autumn Mills (London, ON) and Kate Psota (Burlington, ON).
According to Ken Dawe, Executive Director of Baseball Newfoundland the day was a resounding success.
“Everything went perfectly, the girls all went home happy, the parents were happy, and the instructors including Kate and Autumn were pleased.”
The day was capped off with each participant receiving baseball cards that featured Autumn and Kate, who happily signed autographs for their new fans.
An equally successful day was also held in Winnipeg, MB on June 5th that featured Women’s National Team members Heidi Northcott (Rocky Mountain House, AB) and Shelby Gordon (Calgary, AB)
This was the second year that a clinic of this type was held and an impressive 60 girls were able to participate.
“The day was fabulous,” noted Brenda Horz who is the Executive Assistant at Baseball Manitoba.
“The girls (National Team members) were treated like celebrities and were great at interacting with the participants,” said Horz who says that plans are already underway as to how to make the day even more successful next year.
Heidi and Shelby spent the day visiting each individual station where a specific baseball skill was taught. Afterwards they spent their time answering questions from the participants. When the session concluded Heidi and Shelby were guests of the Winnipeg Goldeyes where they were both able to throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to their home game.
Two more clinics of this type are scheduled for the province of New Brunswick; the first one will be June 25th in Moncton, NB and the following day June 26th in Miramichi. Women’s National Team members Stephanie Savoie (La Pocatiere, QC) and Patricia Landry (St-Etienne-des-Gres, QC) will be attending. Please visit http://baseballnb.ca/ for more details on how to participate.
