Rookie Camp

This is T's second season of playing T-ball. Last spring/summer, he played through the YMCA program, which was a good intro to the "game" of t-ball, as well as cheap entertainment for those watching a group of 4 and 5 year-old's play an organized game of said sport for the first time. This go around, though, we opted for something a little different for T. We had heard good things about our suburb's baseball association's rookie camp, so we decided to check it out. The "camp" is about 6 sessions/Saturdays for an hour and 45 minutes each time and it stresses the development of the fundamentals of the game of baseball, while at the same time encouraging a lot of fun and requiring a great amount of parent involvement. We've had one camp session of yet (we got rained out this past weekend), and so far, it has been great! The kids have been placed on teams of about 10 kids, and each week they rotate through 3 of 8 stations, 6 of which teach a specific skill and the other 2 of which simulate an actual (though abbreviated) game. After 3 weeks, the kids have all cycled through the stations and then 8 new stations are created, which they then cycle through for the remaining 3 weeks. Pretty cool set-up! Each child is required to have one parent involved in each station at all times, plus there are 2-3 "team leaders" or parent coaches as well. Michael is one of the leaders for T's team. Z and I just have fun watching :)

So, here is what was on tap for T's team on Week #1 of Rookie Camp:

Warm-Ups before camp started

Check out the number T chose for his shirt! Like father, like son :)

Station #1: Throwing a Split Seam Fastball (sounds pretty technical, don't you think?)

Station #2: Sliding (Feet first only!)
Station #3: The Pitcher's Stance, aka "Kill the Coach"
Arms UpPower PositionArms OutAimFire

(The voice that you hear in the video is the commissioner of the baseball association, former head coach of the high school baseball team - he definitely stresses the element of FUN to the kids!).

There you have it! Week 1 of Rookie Camp complete! Can't wait to see what happens next week!