Sports
About 150 young baseball players from throughout the province, including several from Richmond City Baseball which hosted the event, participated in the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy T12 B.C. Player Evaluations camp last Friday at Richmond’s Latrace Field.
Photo by Don Fennell
Richmond City Baseball hosts Blue Jays’ camp
Ray Carter retired as the longest-serving
president in the history of Baseball Canada a year ago. But he certainly hasn't
withdrawn himself from the game.
Having made many landmark contributions
during his tenure with the national association, including establishing the
Challenger Baseball program that allows children with disabilities to
participate in the sport, Carter also saw the men's and women's national teams
enjoy unparalleled success. Yet it should come as no surprise to see him
sitting intently in a dugout at Minoru's Latrace Field last Friday as a group
of 150 teen players from around B.C. participated in a series of drills. After
all, the ball park has long been his second home.
Carter said he wouldn't be surprised if, in
as few as five years ,a camp participant made it to the Major Leagues.
"He's a very knowledgeable, well-liked and
respected man throughout Canada," said Mike Kelly, a long-time colleague of
Carter's at BC Baseball, which helped its member club, Richmond City Baseball,
host last week’s Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy T12 B.C. Player Evaluations
camp.
Kelly, who himself chairs BC Baseball’s
coaching development program, said the opportunity to expand the number of
opportunities for its young players is always welcome.
"We’ve got a lot of good young kids playing
baseball, but it all comes down to coaching and player development," Kelly
said. "We spend a lot of time with our coaches to help the kids get to the next
level."
The T12 academy (which derives its name from
former Blue Jay Roberto Alomar, who wore uniform No. 12 during his playing days
and who supports the endeavour) invites amateur baseball players aged 14 to 19
to register for a tryout camp. From those camps, held across the country,
players are selected and assigned to the team representing the province or region
where they were born. A team representing B.C. will play at the T12 tournament
Sept. 14 to 17 at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Position players were evaluated on speed,
throwing, defence and hitting, while pitchers were evaluated by throwing in the
bullpen. Each session lasted about four hours.
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