Sport
10 March, 2024
Hitting home runs in style
A COHORT of 11 young baseball players have grabbed their bats and mitts and gearing up for a future in professional baseball through the recently launched 2024 Emerging Athletes Program (EAP).
With one lesson already ticked off, the 2024 EAP cohort is preparing for four intense Sunday sessions ahead of the beginning of the baseball season to establish the foundational skills and learn the basics of the game followed by another five monthly sessions to strengthen these skills.
NQ Baseball regional director of coaching Anthony Van Fleet said the 2024 EAP team was an interesting one.
“We have a very mixed bag this year with very young players, one completely brand new, and our oldest, a very experienced 17-year-old who has already been part of the Queensland junior women’s team, Claire Gattera,” he said.
“Currently we have 11 players signed up, we usually pick up a few more players in the following weeks and then it stays this way until the end.
“We’ll bring the newer players up to speed with the best practices for warming up, conditioning and strengthening all of those basic elements of the game. This is also a refresher for the most experienced players.
“As the sessions go on we’ll adapt to the experience of the players, I’ll even get some of the most experienced players to play a role as semi-coaches which will also develop their coaching skills.”
Mr Van Fleet reiterated the importance of a program like EAP for young players in the Far North.
“EAP is really valuable, not only for the players and the game, but for attracting people to the game and having more opportunities to get the word out that baseball is here. Being a niche sport I even participated in a tournament as early as the year 2000 and I still talk to locals that don’t even know the sport exists here,” he said.
“The more programs we run, the more visibility we have, so it’s vital to run programs like EAP.”
With the season upcoming in mid-April, Mr Van Fleet encouraged the community to get involved with baseball.
“Our baseball clubs are still recruiting for the season that starts on April 20,” he said.
“Also join EAP, it’s a great opportunity to learn the game and for the experienced players it’s an opportunity to build on the skills you already have and learn new ones.”
For more information, visit the Cairns Baseball League Facebook page.
