Youngsters learn about more than baseball at camp
BURBANK — Bob Hart and a group of 25 baseball players ages 10-14 sat for a group session in the air-conditioned portable locker room adjacent to the baseball field at Burbank High.
The coach joins the young athletes in munching on a Popsicle in a momentary respite from a warm morning toiling on the field. The get-together is a daily addition to the Bulldog Baseball Camp, an event that is held in a number of sessions throughout the summer, with the latest installment having concluded Friday.
In the session, Hart, the head baseball coach at Burbank, talks with the players about baseball. But that isn’t the only thing on the agenda. The coach also provides the athletes with motivational tidbits, stresses some of life’s lessons and the importance of academics in addition to athletics. The players also ask questions and even tell jokes.
“I would do this kind of thing every day if I could; I just love working with young players like this,” Hart said. “It’s just a pure joy for me and I’m very fortunate to be able to do this. This is just in my blood and I don’t know what I would do without it. It’s just great to see how enthusiastic and committed these young players are.
“We want them to learn about baseball, but we also want them to have fun. And some of what adversity you have in baseball is the same adversity you face in life. It’s all about how you deal with that adversity, learn from it and move on.”
Along with the non-sports aspects, the Bulldog Baseball Camp provides athletes with a heavy dose of baseball. Players participate in hitting, base running and defensive drills, as well as the correct way to handle relay throws and other fundamental practices. In addition, the athletes take part in a soft-toss scrimmage.
“We try and cover as much as we can in the time that we have,” Hart said. “This group this week is 10-14, but last week we had a group of players who were 6-10, which poses a different challenge altogether. We do a lot of stations with different fundamentals and we try and keep it as structured as we can.”
Assisting Hart for the camp is a group of Bulldogs players. One of those helping out is senior Max Meltzer, who said the success of the camp is due to the expertise and dedication of Hart.
“What is most important to coach Hart is that no matter how good you are in baseball, it’s academics that always come first and he really stresses that,” Meltzer said. “He will tell you that in being a student-athlete, the student always comes first.
“Along with baseball, coach also teaches things that will be important beyond your days playing baseball and how to be better as a person. He is out here every day giving his time trying to make these players better, not only as baseball players but as people.”
One of the athletes having fun and learning at the camp was 10-year-old Dallas Young of Burbank. Young is the son of former All-Star, National League stolen base leader and Silver Slugger Award winner Eric Young Sr., who spent 15 years in Major League Baseball.
“I’m just having so much fun out here and coach Hart makes it fun,” Dallas Young said. “I’m also learning a lot and the coaches make it really fun for us. This is the place I want to be at, playing baseball. It’s much better to be out here than just to be home.”
Cameron Cisneros, 12, of Burbank took part in the camp hoping to improve his skills.
“What I really learned was with my batting,” he said. “When I was hitting, I was always swinging a little early. But the coach told me that I should keep back in the box more and wait for the ball to come to me. I tried that and it’s really worked and now I’m hitting the ball pretty far. I’m so happy with that.”
There will be two more Bulldog Baseball Camp sessions, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 10-14 and July 17-21. Sign-ups can be made at BurbankHighBaseball.org or on site the first day of the camp.
Twitter: @jefftsports
