By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Mario Ford Baseball Camp resumed its Saturday morning sessions at Windsor Park over the weekend.

The camp, which is geared toward equipping boys and girls alike with the basic fundamentals of baseball, catered to the youth between the 4-15 age range with the goal of developing their raw talent.

Camp director Mario Ford spoke about the various skills passed on to the youth to kick off the first Saturday session of 2025. “We did the basic fundamentals with long throws, short throws, routine workout in the infield and outfield and teaching the kids the proper throwing techniques, fielding techniques and hitting drills. We usually practice in-game situations with a scrimmage so that we can see where they are at and what they need to work on in practice,” he said.

The weekly camp usually runs from January to December with a brief break for the summer and winter periods. 

The Mario Ford Baseball Camp plays a pivotal role in providing the youth in inner city communities with a positive environment to nurture and develop their skills. 

Ford spoke about why the programme is beneficial for kids interested in the game of baseball.

“It is very important because it is a positive thing to do instead of being on the streets every Saturday morning or every other day. They come here and learn to interact, learn discipline and the baseball game. 

“A lot of these kids go down into different organisations to play, high schools, college or potentially in the pros. We are working on keeping them in a positive recreational activity and this is also a way out,” he said.

The camp director, who is an alumnus of Tuskegee University, has collaborated with his alma mater to arrange up to six scholarship opportunities for local baseball players.

“This year I have about five or six scholarships that my former college is giving out. I am looking at some of the guys in high school who are graduating and once they get all of their paperwork together they will be able to go off and play college baseball,” Ford said.

Zion Pinder, 16, is a regular participant of the Mario Ford Baseball Camp and admitted that the learning experience is second to none.

“It is a good learning experience. It has helped me to better my understanding of baseball. It has helped me to understand catching and just the overall experience of playing the sport,” the catcher said.

He outlined what he hopes to achieve while working with Ford.

“I hope to achieve just bettering myself overall. I want to continue working on my hitting, catching, fielding and throwing…basically working on the basics to improve my game,” Pinder said.

Lucas Jolissaint, 15, plays as an outfielder and is grateful for the fundamentals he has picked up at the camp so far.

“It has been a great experience so far. We have been learning basic fundamentals including fielding, hitting, catching pop up, knowing what to do when you hit the ball, good defence and good offence.” 

“My goals with the Mario Ford Baseball camp is to practice more, hit more and field some more,” he said.

Individuals interested in registering for the Mario Ford Baseball Camp can contact 556-0993 for more information. 

The Saturday sessions run from 9am to noon at Windsor Park each week.