Players are sure to pick up some tips at baseball clinics next weekend (Feb. 3-5). But perhaps even more importantly, it’s a chance for them to become inspired.
“We’re going to teach a lot of the fundamentals of the game, re-instil some of those things and hopefully each kid can pick up one or two new things…” said Mike Griffin, coach at North Carolina’s Pro 5 Baseball Academy. “The other big thing they can learn is picking the brains of somebody like Trot Nixon, who has done what every boy dreams of. He played 10 years in the majors; he won the World Series with the Red Sox. They were down three games to none to the Yankees and they came back to win. That whole experience, there’s so much in there about perseverance and the kind of mental focus and determination you have to have to be successful in this game.”
Griffin, a former Nanaimo Pirates player, worked with the Nanaimo Minor Baseball Association to bring Nixon and other coaches to town to lead clinics for players ages 12-18 at Nanoose Bay’s Arbutus Meadows Equestrian Centre. There will be a coaching conference held in conjunction.
Players in the U13 division can attend Friday from 5-9 p.m. The U15 clinic is Saturday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and the U18 clinic is from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
There are coaching certification initiation courses Friday from 5-9 p.m. Coaching clinics are Saturday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
The coaching conference costs $15 per day or $25 for both days. The players’ clinics are $40 for U13 and $60 for U15-U18.
To register, please visit www.bcminorbaseball.org/clubs/4763.
Look for more on Griffin and his work coaching the Czech Republic national team in an upcoming issue of the News Bulletin.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com