OTTAWA (Feb.9.2017) –
Reposted by Carleton GoRavens Feb.23.2017
The Carleton University Baseball club has sold out its Winter Prep camp. Now in its fourth week, parents and players (aged 7 through 12) are giving the program rave reviews.
“Every Thursday night I hear about how much the kids are getting out of the camp. Little League parents are really impressed with the individual attention and degree of instruction their sons and daughters are getting in this program” said President and Faculty Advisor George Rigakos.
The camp is able to offer an excellent student to instructor ratio because of the volunteer efforts of the players. Classes are capped at only nine players and often there are only two players per instructor. All of the instructors have hundreds of hours of instruction and certification ranging from NCAA D1 to Jr. Elite experience.
“The camp is an important student-athlete effort” according to head coach Andre Robidoux: “I’m really proud of how these guys have put in the hours to make this happen. [Lead instructor] Mike [Bannon] has done a fantastic job and this is an important step for the program.”
Indeed, the team has managed to raise over $4,500 by partnering with the South Ottawa Little League in order to make the camp happen. In the coming months the team will be volunteering hours of tee ball instruction and acting as independent evaluators for Little League’s sort-outs.
Based on the success of the camps, the baseball team is also planning to offer full-day baseball summer camps and is looking expand their outreach to other Little League organizations.
“I love working with the kids. I get as much out of this as they do. It’s great for us, great for the program and great for the community” says Bannon, who is finishing his MA in English after posting a 2.74 ERA and striking out 27 hitters in 23 innings on the Fall season. Bannon is joined by teammates Tye Greschuk, Manny Restrepo, Brady Turner and Curtis Lacelle.
“This is precisely the type of outreach we ought to be doing” says Rigakos. “It allows us to build relationships while raising revenue for our own program.”
The Carleton University Ravens are also using the gym time to gear up for their first-ever US trip which will take them through New York state to take on NCAA teams SUNY-Canton and Rensselaer Polytechnic as well as USCAA champs College of St. Joseph from Vermont.
Annual team awards 2016