If you're looking for private baseball lessons for your son this winter, these guys know their stuff --period. 

The BC Baseball Academy believes that private lessons are essential to the development of players.  Whether the lessons are for hitting, pitching, or defense, these lessons lead to much quicker development.  Tremendous improvements can be made at these times in many areas.  The goal is to have the players continue to improve during the “off season” and, thus, start each preseason much improved over the end of the previous year.

We would like to offer every player on one of our league teams an opportunity to partake in our winter lessons.  Our main lesson instructors will be Brad Doering (pitching), Bret Graziano (hitting) and Bob Coons (hitting and pitching).  We will also have other instructors that will become available.  Below are the listings of our lesson packages provided:

Individual Lessons are scheduled with one instructor teaching one player during the scheduled time.  If players are scheduled for one hour lessons, the lesson may be broke into 30 minutes hitting and 30 minutes pitching.  If this is done, player may have a different instructor for hitting and a different instructor for pitching.

Partner Lessons are scheduled with one instructor teaching two players during the scheduled time.  If partners are scheduled for one hour lessons, the lesson may be broke into 30 minutes hitting and 30 minutes pitching.  If this is done, partners may have a different instructor for hitting and a different instructor for pitching.  When scheduling partner lessons, parents/players should find a partner to schedule with and work with for lessons.

The times for these lessons will be made available either on Saturdays and Sundays or on any weekday from Monday through Thursday from 5:00 – 9 pm.  Individual lessons will typically last for 30 minutes; however many players tend to do 30 minutes of hitting and 30 minutes of pitching.  Take into consideration that schedule times are on a first come basis.

I hope we may serve your interests and provide the opportunity to help each player attain their goals and play at the next level. Please feel free to call Mike Hinton at our BC office at 573-445-8999 if you have any questions. Hope to hear from everyone soon and best of luck to you in preparation for the spring.

weplay.com is a new social networking website geared to youth sports. Parents can share photos and videos of their kids and teams, organize their activities and team events into a single calender.  Coaches can manage team schedules, promote tournaments and such. Kids can share their thoughts about the big game and even interact with a few pros like Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, Lebron James and Jennie Finch. Even sports fans can stay plugged into their favorites teams and receive automatic notifications of updated events, news, photos and videos.

So take a look at weplay.com, it may be the new facebook/myspace for youth sports.  And don't forget to share your comments with the rest of us.

I received an interesting comment from Willie yesterday.  For those who don't know, Willie managed the umpires for the BC League at Twin Oaks in Columbia, Missouri for the past couple years.  Personally, I thought he was great, his son played some with Sam on the Mud Dawgs back in 2007. Willie was always pleasant, running busily from field to field and generally had a smile on his face, even in the midst of heated discussions, which happen all to frequently in youth sports.

Well, it looks like Willie is leaving (has left?) BC Baseball. We'll miss you Willie. Good luck!

 

Just wanted to say that for the past three years at the BC ( Of which I have been UIC for two of them) I have had the joy of watching our youth grow and play in the game of baseball, I wish all of the teams and coaches the best of luck in the 2009 season and I hope for the best for all of them. In the two years that I WAS the UIC I did my best to bring the standard of the umpires to the highest level of the game that I could, I admit that there were times and games that could have gone better but we are all human and we make mistakes but all in all I think the level of umpireing at the BC was at the highest that it has ever been and I hope that it will continue to do so for I will not be a part of the BC Baseball family in 2009 and it is of no fault of mine or the BC There were just some things that I thought should have been handled different and we did not see eye to eye. But as for the umpires and the rest of the people that I had the pleasure of working with I enjoyed my time there and who knows maybe someday we will meet again at a different field and a different place. So this is where I say good bye and God Bless.

 

Submitted by willie (not verified) on September 24, 2008 - 4:03pm

 

Next years baseball team has been selected.  The "official" roster will be posted at http://www.jcbi.org within a couple of days.  If you made the team, congratulations.  If not, keep working at it and give it another try next August.

2009 JCBI 14U Roster:
Dylan Brauner
Cameron Carroll
Dan Haynes
Sam Atkinson
Trevor Rucker
Alex Johnson
Steven Coots
Joesph Limbach
Corey Beard
Erick Standlee
Scott Stegeman
Austin Kneskern

Both the 12U and 13U teams for the upcoming 2009 baseball season have been posted at http://www.jcbi.org.  If you made one of the teams, congratulations!  If not, keep working on your baseball skills and give it another try in 2010.  Tryouts are typically held every August, so you have an entire year to improve.

Again, congratulations to those kids who made the 2009 JCBI roster.

Unless you've been living under a rock lately, you've undoubtedly heard about nine year old Jericho Scott.  Jericho loves baseball, and at nine years of age already inflicts terror on his opponents, so much so that teams refuse to play when he takes the mound.

I was struck by the news stories this week and the position of the league, opposing teams and the sort of message this sends to kids. Nothing about the leagues refusal to allow Jericho to pitch, nothing about the coaches who refuse to play, nothing about the parents of those teams who buy into this percussion of a nine year old child can be justified.

The ROOTS principle of Honoring The Game teaches us to honor our opponents, especially those opponents who challenge us to do our best. And even more so for those opponents who cause us to face our fears and rise to the challenge.  Nothing in life, no job, no school, no experience will reward you for cowering in the stands, at the plate or in your mind.

It truly saddens me, that these kids aren't being taught the life lessons that can sustain them throughout their lives.  What an unbelievable gift, a wonderful teaching opportunity for the kids, squandered.

My message for these kids. Get out there! You CAN do it! I believe in you!  Swing the bat and do the best you can!  Give it a try! 

For the coaches and parents, have you ever witnessed the magic on a kids face who hits a baseball he never thought he could hit?  What power, pride and confidence and it's contagious --suddenly every kid on the team believes they too can do it.  What an opportunity and life lesson --those kids will remember forever!

Jericho --You keep pitching bud!  Be proud of your accomplishments and don't let a bunch of misguided adults sour your love for baseball.  You keep working and you'll be throwing in the ninities in no time!

Sports Illustrated is reporting that Major League Baseball has inked an agreement with the Umpires that allows the use of instant replay to help determine calls on the field.  Seems the gear has been installed and we could see it inuse this month.

The marching of technology is inevitable, but it'll take some getting used to.  My only question, can we get instant replay for youth sports too?  Just kidding!

Unfortunately, team Rampage is no more.  Can't say for sure what exactly happened to this team, several players just moved onto other teams. Pretty sad. I'm still trying to get used to all this softball tryouts and girls moving around from team to team.  It's a bit weird considering our experience with baseball, but it is, what it is and team Rampage is no more.

Do you eat, sleep and breathe baseball?  Do you long to be on a competitive baseball team?  Are you driven to be the best you can be?  If so, Jefferson City Baseball, Inc. (JCBI) may be for you.  JCBI will be holding open tryouts on Saturday, August 23rd for the upcoming 2009 baseball season.  All teams have openings -- 12U, 13U and 14U.

JCBI operates three developmental competitive baseball teams in which the Jays Baseball Coaching staff helps prepare you for high school baseball.  This program is open to all baseball players whether or not you attend Jefferson City Public Schools and isn't apart of the schools system whatsoever.  So grab your gear and we'll see you on the field.

Tryouts for the 12U and 13U teams will be held at 9:00 am at Vivion field.

Tryouts for the 14U team will be held at 1:00 pm at Vivion field.

Whatever your childs age on April 30th determines the youngest team your child can play for.  Example; if your son is 13 years of age on April 30th, he could play for either the 13U or 14U teams, but not 12U.

For more information, please email Coach Mike Shipp at michael.shipp@jcps.k12.mo.us

UPDATE 8/25/2008
The 2009 JCBI 14U team will be holding a second tryout on September 6th at 1:00 pm on Lions field.  If you missed the August 23rd tryout, here's your opportunity. Hope to see you there!

UPDATE 9/6/2008
Tryouts wrapped up today. And rosters have been set for the 2009 12U, 13U adn 14U baseball teams.  Congradulations if you made one of the teams. "Official roaters are posted at http://www.jcbi.org.

Hats off to this team.  Those young men fought hard in the Show-Me State games, going 3-0 in pool play only to loose the two bracket games.  That's hard on kids, but it's a part of baseball and I'm sure they understand that.  But that's not why I'm writing about them.

First, a little history. We first ran into these young men back in June and something about them caught our eye.  They're a smaller team, size wise anyway, but we're full of life, spunk really, and we got a kick out of watching those youngsters play in Florrisant, MO. as they faced off against some pretty big boys.  They put up a fight, but in the end fell to the Illinois Pride.  And I think we were as disappointed as the boys; I thought that'd be the of the story.  It wasn't.

We ran into the Rugrats again this weekend at the Show-Me State Games in Columbia, MO.  Once again we we're struck by the boys and coaches on this team.  They played hard and fast and we quietly cheered them on, even though they beat us in pool play. "Honor the game", that's rule one folks.

We ran back into the Rugrats again playing for third and that's when one of the parents noticed a child, an outfielder, who was left handed, playing with a right handed glove. Curiosity got the better of the parent so they asked why that was.  The answer hit me pretty hard.

For those who don't know, Wellston, MO. is a fairly poor inner city community in St. Louis, Missouri.  None of they boys own their own equiptment, it's provided by a community center there.  And before each game each child pulls a glove out of that bag and goes play baseball --there just aren't any "lefty" gloves.  Now that young man standing in the outfield would chase down and catch balls, take off his glove, then throw the ball.  They even share two bats --which stands in stark contrast to most teams, inculding ours, where almost every kid has at least or more $300 bats.

So here's the deal...  we're working with the community center in Wellston, Missouri to donate as much baseball gear as we can get our hands on for these kids.  If you have any used gear, please contact me here or drop me a comment with you're email and I'll get intouch with you.  If you dont have any gear, but would like to make a donation, just let me know --we'll find out what they need and purchase or pass it along accordinly.

I'll post updates to this as things progress.

 

UPDATE 8/18/2008
Unfortunately, despite repeated efforts, we just weren't able to get connected with the coaches or this program.  It's a same as several parents had donations for the origination.  It just goes to show how important it is to have someone on the inside who's enthusiastic and driven to make a difference.  It's a shame that in the end we just couldn't make something happen.

UPDATE, UPDATE 8/24/2008
Good News! Everybody finally managed to get connected and the donations were made.  Huge thanks goes out to the Johnsons' for making this happen.  Folks, these kids could really use a hand.  Most of the boys have no father in their life.  These kids do most everything together, playing baseball and basketball and their teams have pretty much become family.  Everyday these kids encounter difficulties in their lives that the majority of us can't even imagine.  They really could use your help.  If you know of an organization who'd be willing to donate funds or equipment for these kids, please contact me and we'll put you in touch with the organization.  FYI: they also have a cheerleading program for the girls.