Toronto Playgrounds Baseball Coaches Have a Grand Slam Time at the 2019 Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy National Coaches Clinic

VOLUNTEER COACHES FROM OUR HOUSE LEAGUE AND SELECT BASEBALL PROGRAMS ENRICHED THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS AT A THREE DAY SESSION AT THE ROGERS CENTRE

A passionate contingent of our volunteer coaches with the Toronto Playgrounds Baseball House League and Select programs attended the 2019 edition of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy National Coached Clinic at the Rogers Centre this weekend. From left to right: Rikk Salamat; Mark Steinberg; Jeff Kolyn; Reagan Maude; Kathleen Gallagher; Chris Bialkowski; Beth Arseneau; Lubo Brezina and Paul Bagnell.

For the love of the game, a diehard contingent of our volunteer Toronto Playgrounds Baseball coaches from the House League and Select levels had an opportunity to enrich their coaching acumen and skills this weekend at the three day 2019 Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy National Coaching Clinic held at the Rogers Centre.

In connection with Baseball Canada and the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP), the Blue Jays hosted National Coaches Clinic featured distinguished speakers who discussed various aspects of the game, with the goal of providing coaches with tips and techniques to take back to their teams. Sessions were combined with on field breakout stations that allowed coaches to speak with experts in a more hands on environment to fully understand take away points and ask questions.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Toronto Playgrounds Baseball Committee continued an initiative to give some of our dedicated and hard working volunteer coaches in the House League and Select programs all the education and tools necessary to teach our players the fundamentals of baseball. With that goal in mind, the Committee paid for a part of the clinic costs to encourage our coaches to attend the sessions in order to upgrade their skills, and become the best they can be for our players and organization.

Partaking in the 2019 edition of the Blue Jays National Coaches Clinic were:

BETH ARSENEAU: TP Minor Mosquito Select Baseball Coach
DAVID BADHAM: TP Minor Peewee ‘AA’ Rep Baseball Coach
PAUL BAGNELL: TP House League Baseball Coach; Treasurer of the TP Baseball Committee
CHRIS BIALKOWSKI: TP Rookie Ball Select Coach
MARCO BIANCHI: TP Minor Bantam ‘AA’ Rep Baseball Coach
LUBO BREZINA: TP Major Mosquito Select Baseball Coach
KATHLEEN GALLAGHER: TP Minor Peewee Select Baseball Coach
PAUL KELLY: TP Bantam Select Baseball Coach; TP House League Baseball Coach
JEFF KOLYN: TP Select Baseball Convener; TP House League Baseball Committee Member
REAGAN MAUDE: TP Rookie Ball Select Baseball Coach; TP Baseball Committee Member
RIKK SALAMAT: TP House League Baseball Coach
MARK STEINBERG: TP Minor Mosquito Select Baseball Coach
REBECCA WELLS-JOPLING: TP Major Peewee Select Baseball Coach; TP House League Baseball Coach
SADIE WHITFIELD-SMITH: TP Baseball Field Supervisor; TP Minor Midget Rep Baseball Coach

After attending a four hour Baseball Canada NCCP Professional Development program on Friday afternoon that encompassed fundamentals like base running, infield, outfield and hitting, our esteemed group of TP Baseball Coaches took to the field on Saturday and Sunday at the Rogers Centre to participate in various skills workstations with instructors that included Blue Jays Alumni Coaches, current members of the Blue Jays coaching staff, Blue Jays minor league coaches, and instructors from Baseball Canada and the Blue Jays Academy. Attendees also reconvened to hear from a variety of keynote speakers later in each day.

Some of the Blue Jays and other elite major league instructors that our TP House League and Select Baseball Coaches had the pleasure of listening to and working with included:

And a ‘Say Hey!’ time was had by one and all our TP House League and Select Baseball Coaches in attendance.