A Sincere and Heartfelt Thank You

[Al's Fastball News]

Received: 5/18/07 10:47:18 AM 
From:  <davebailey(at)baileyconstruction.ca> 

  
Subject:  A Sincere and Heartfelt Thank You   
   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAVISTOCK, Ontario

It was my intentions to send out this letter of thanks earlier
in the week but as the saying goes, "better late than never".
On Saturday May 12, Tavistock Minor Ball hosted their annual
Fastball Skills Clinic for players 
8 - 14 years of age. 65 enthusiastic young fastballers took to
the field for a day of instruction, drills and more importantly,
FUN !!
The day began with a Pitcher/Catcher session from 8:30-10:00am
followed by two Skill sessions from 10:30 - 12:00 noon and two
more Skill sessions from 2:00 until 3:30pm. Sandwiched in between
was our pizza lunch and traditional Skills Competition. Awards
presentation from 3:30-4:00pm wrapped up a long but exciting
day. The kids all had a wonderful and eventful experience.
What makes this clinic such a great success each year for the
kids is the volunteer instructors that give of their time to
spend a day with these young players and teach them not only
the Skills of the game but the love of the game as well. As always,
I sent out my S.O.S. for these volunteers beginning a couple
of months ago and as always they came happily from all over the
province to assist. These volunteers that I speak of are my friends,
my teammates, and people who understand that for our great game
to survive, we all need to do our part. No less than 5 members
of Team Canada's Player Pool were on hand to assist. No less
than 12 World Class players and coaches were there in total to
provide instruction, share the laughs, and autograph t-shirts
and hats at the end of the day until the last player was satisfied
and heading home happy. What a thrill for these young players
to rub elbows with some of the best players in the game for an
entire day. What great memories these kids will share from this
experience. What tremendous dedication these unselfish volunteers
exhibited staying around after 8 or more hours of instructing,
simply to sign autographs and send a young ball player home with
a smile. It never ceases to amaze me how many great and unselfish
people there are in our game. I guess that's why its a hard game
to leave. It becomes a part of your being and it never goes away.
For the critics that think that nobody gives back to the game
of fastball, they should have spent May 12 in Tavistock. It was
truly a wonderful event to witness, and I know that the majority
of these young ball players will be back again next year for
a repeat performance. Many were back again from previous years.
That means that if nothing else, this annual experience may in
some small way, encourage these young ball players to continue
to play the game. Hopefully to, it will encourage them to aspire
to be a "World Class" ball player of the future. Only through
this, will our great game of fastball survive. Its everyone's
responsibility to make this happen.
To Todd Martin, Paul Koert, Don Scott, Pat Humphries, Pete Stewart,
Dale Levy, Grant Baechler, Jason Daer, Evan Boyd, Derek Shackleton,
Doug Eidt and Steve Kreuter, THANK YOU for taking the time and
helping to make a difference. You're fantastic friends and teammates,
and this day would not have been possible without each and every
one of you. Also a special thanks to Nat Kelterborn who assisted
with our Pitcher sessions. Nat is a former NCAA pitching star
and we appreciate her time and efforts as well.
This concludes the Skills Clinics for this spring for many of
the Hallman Hwins and Sebringville Sting players who also ran
an earlier clinc over two weeks in Monkton, Ontario. Its time
to now hit the field and play some ball, knowing that we have
helped in some way to start the season on a very positive note
for many young ball players.
Thanks again to all of you.

Sincerely,
Dave Bailey
Vice President
Tavistock Minor Ball
<davebailey(at)baileyconstruction.ca> 



PS Congratulations to The Orillia boys that are also running
their "PITCH to WIN" Clinics this spring in Northern Ontario.
Awesome fellas and Good On You.  



 Al's Fastball News
*Email: fastball(at)pmihrm.com
   fastball at pmihrm.com
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