About 50 youngsters descended on Ryan Dempster Field in Gibsons on June 21 to receive baseball tips from the player after whom the field is named.
The clinic – the first of its kind – was arranged by the Sunshine Coast Baseball Association for children over the age of 10 to get tips from the newly anointed BC Hall of Famer and World Series champion, Ryan Dempster, who was born and raised in Gibsons.
“I’m surprised I haven’t done this sooner,” Dempster told Coast Reporter following the two-hour clinic, which involved teaching the fundamentals such as hitting, fielding and base running. “I’m not going to teach them the whole game, they’ve got good coaches up here doing that, so I’m just having some fun with them and will let them pepper me around the field with some batting practice.”
Joshua Warren, 11, first learned about Dempster after buying a pack of playing cards at the Dollar Tree a couple of years ago. He said “it’s really pretty cool” to get in-person lessons from the retired pitcher, even though it was just the basics. “I mostly knew most of it, so it’s just review,” said Warren during a break in the action.
Christian Obeck, head of player and coach development for the Sunshine Coast Baseball Association, said it was the opportunity to hear Dempster’s advice that brought the most value to the event.
“It’s great that the kids can see a Major Leaguer is just a good, personable human being, just like them, and if they want to put their attention to something like Ryan did, all the possibilities are there and he shows that,” Obeck said.
Dempster imparted a similar message at the end of the practice, telling the girls and boys not to be dissuaded by naysayers and to follow their passion, even if it doesn’t turn out to be baseball. “We make a mistake, that’s like the best thing in the world … that’s where we learn,” Dempster told participants.
As for pitching, Dempster waited until the end, when the players knelt around the pitcher’s mound to provide a few nuggets of professional wisdom. “Just look at the catcher’s glove… Your eyes will tell your brain where to throw the baseball.” Mechanics, he said, are different for everybody so, “Just get up big and strong, keep our leg up and then we drive towards home plate.”
You can hear more from the clinic on Coast Reporter Radio at www.coastreporter.net/audio
