Baseball may
be a developing sport in the Cayman Islands but according to instructors with
Major League Baseball club the Chicago White Sox, high level talent exists
here.
Last week five
coaches with the BullSox Training Academy at the Field of Dreams facility in
George Town. They were Pete Caliendo (a US youth coach who has been to some 30
countries), Mike Huff, Marty Kobernus (the lead pitching instructor), Dan
Schaffer (a top academy trainer) and Justin Stone. The BullSox is a youth
sports development outfit that focuses on nurturing basketball and baseball
talents. It is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, the same man that owns the White Sox
and NBA team the Chicago Bulls.
Some 70 odd
kids came to the field to receive instruction from Monday to Friday. The
youngsters, who ranged from seven to 18 years of age, took part in morning
drills that focused on fundamentals and an evening session that featured
exhibition matches.
Huff, 47, is a
former pro player who played with a number of teams from 1989 to 1996. He
states the talent he sees here can star for US colleges abroad.
“There was so
much excitement from these kids with coaches from a pro team in town,” Huff
said. “Their eyes were wide open, their ears were open and they were willing to
learn. I hope they continue to grow their success with their parents. Justin
(Stone) held a coaching clinic after working with the kids that saw about 20
parents. He talked to them about following through and I hope to see more enjoyment
of the sport and better skills emerge in the kids.
“Cayman has
some kids here that can go abroad and compete in US junior colleges and
universities at a high level.”
Stone, 34, is
the general manager for baseball operations at the academy and had equal praise
for the youngsters. In addition he also pointed out the high standard of the
Field of Dreams venue.
“It was a
wonderful experience coming here,” Stone said. “The fields and the entire
complex rivals anything in the US. These kids have the excitement to play and
we as coaches feed off of that. The camp was great, the kids have shown great
improvement and hopefully they continue to play.
“Every kid’s
improvement has skyrocketed. The fact that they’ve gotten better should
hopefully make them even more interested in baseball. It’s great seeing the
smiles on their faces.”
Both coaches
are no strangers to Cayman. Huff was here with the BullSox back in January with
Schaffer. Stone has been here four times dating back to 2006, with his last
visit being two years ago. Both are willing to come back.
“I’m very
excited about coming back,” Huff said. “It’s a great partnership that addresses
part of our mission statement in getting kids to grow in the game while making
the experience as good as possible.”
“The camp
started out being 12 hours of instruction over three days,” Stone said. “Now
it’s five days with 25 hours of teaching. Where the White Sox want to take this
eventually is to bring US teams here to show how competitive teams in the
States are and what Cayman needs to do to get there. Everyday here we had great
weather so it’d be awesome to come back.”
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