Category: Youth Leagues

by AspiDimitrov

SCHOOL’S OUT… LET’S PLAY BALL!

[ PHOTO GALLERY ]
[ WATFORD OBSERVER ARTICLE ]

Grovehill Ballpark is the home of the two Division One teams, the Herts Falcons and the Herts Hawks, but last Saturday it became the home of the next generation of Hertfordshire baseball players.

Boys and girls aged between 7 and 12 from around Hertfordshire and the surrounding regions joined the first ever Baseball Little League Summer Camp organised by Hertfordshire Baseball Club with the support of BaseballSoftballUK, the development agency for baseball and softball in the United Kingdom which is funded by Sports England, the agency that delivers the Government's sporting objectives.

Eleven coaches from the club and BSUK introduced the kids to the main aspects of the game: batting, throwing, catching, fielding, base running etc. Halfway-through the day players, parents and coaches gathered for an enjoyable picnic together while watching a Home Run hitting display by current Herts Falcons Home Run leader, Andy Cornish.

After the picnic it was gametime! The players were divided into four teams, the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Mets and the Blue Jays and played two games on two separate diamonds. Every youngster who took part received baseball cards of current baseball stars. Throughout the day the players also had the chance to enjoy the MLB Roadshow which came to Hertfordshire to support the event. It included various fun baseball challenges including a pitching tunnel with a radar gun to measure the speed at which the kids were pitching.

The response from the children and their parents was tremendous and the feedback after the event indicates that the kids are already looking forward to next Saturday’s Baseball Camp.

It was very touching that some parents even approached members of the club with an offer to help not only during the Summer Camps but also volunteered to assist in promoting and spreading the news of this Youth baseball programme to help attract as many children as possible in order to achieve the target of creating 4 brand new teams which will take part in the Hertfordshire Baseball Little League planned for 2008.

The next Summer Camp is next Saturday and every Saturday after that until 1 September.

Hertfordshire Falcons Baseball Club wishes to thank BSUK (www.baseballsoftballuk.com), the MLB Roadshow, baseball supplier Forelle (www.forelle.com), Dacorum Council, the Ambulance and Police Departments as well as all of the club volunteers.
www.baseballsoftballuk.com
www.sportengland.org
by AspiDimitrov

HERTFORDSHIRE LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL SET TO COMMENCE

The Hertfordshire Baseball Club is about to begin what may prove to be one of the largest youth baseball projects in the United Kingdom. This is being done with the generous support of BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK), the development agency for baseball and softball in the United Kingdom which is funded by Sports England, the agency that delivers the Government's sporting objectives.

Over a period of two weeks in July, nearly 20 training sessions at as many schools around Hertfordshire will take place. It is estimated that this will provide over 1,000 boys and girls the opportunity to play the game of baseball. The sessions will be run by licensed coaches provided by BSUK alongside coaches from the Herts Falcons and the Herts Hawks.

Over the years the Herts Baseball Club has been receiving regular enquiries from parents looking for a club where their children would be able to play baseball. Unfortunately, the club has had to turn them away as there was no youth baseball programme in Hertfordshire. The aim of this long-term project is to ensure that this will never happen again and that the kids in Hertfordshire will have a club where they will be able to play the game and most importantly, to have fun in a structured, well organised ‘team’ environment.

The two weeks of school training sessions will be followed by Summer Baseball Camps every Saturday from 28 July until 1 September.

The summer camps will be held at Grovehill Field, which is one of the UK’s best baseball facilities and home of the Herts Falcons and the Herts Hawks. The Summer Baseball Camps will be open not only to students from the schools visited by the club but also to all kids in and around Hertfordshire County.

All these events will build up to 2008 when plans are in place to start the inaugural season of the Hertfordshire Baseball Little League involving newly established teams from around Hertfordshire.

If you are interested to take part in the Summer Baseball Camps or any of the other events, please contact the Herts Baseball Club for more details and read our Frequently Asked Questions about Herts Little League Baseball, located in the LITTLE LEAGUE section of our webpage. Parents are encouraged to get involved as well and they also have the opportunity to play baseball with our adult teams, the Herts Falcons, Hawks and Raptors (14 years of age or older) affiliated to the Hertfordshire Baseball Club.