Optimist Club, Park District pitch together for St. Francis Clinic
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| Dick Volker (left) of the Princeton Optimist Club presents a check for $600 to Princeton Park District director Elaine Russell and recreation supervisor Ryan Luecke. The Optimist and the park district are co-sponsoring the annual St. Francis University Baseball Clinic to be held June 13 at Zearing Park. (BCR photo/Kevin Hieronymus) |
Our family moved to Princeton during the Summer of 1973. After overcoming the culture shock and learning the ways and politics of Bureau County, we struggled to be assimilated into the community.
Our family was active in community service organizations and church groups during the time we lived in Lombard, so it was a foregone conclusion that we would try to be involved in working for the betterment of Princeton. I joined the Kiwanis Club and after surveying the youth baseball program decided to ask the Kiwanis Club to sponsor a baseball clinic for the kids of the area. I had interwoven managing my two sons Little League teams in Lombard with my umpiring schedule in the Chicago area and was able to manage one of Princeton’s Pony League teams when we arrived here.
The Kiwanis Club agreed to pay for a professional instructor. At the time, Russ Meyer, former pitcher for the Chicago Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers was back in Oglesby, his hometown, and was coaching the Illinois Valley Community College baseball team in addition to scouting talent for the New York Yankees. Umpiring many of his IVCC games, I came to know him well and asked him to conduct clinics for Princeton area youths. He did this for several years until getting called up to the Yankees, and then one summer, a very successful high school coach from Wenona, Al Beckman, came over to instruct the clinic.
Eventually I was asked to join the Optimist Club of Princeton, and again, had the blessing of the organization to organize a baseball clinic for our youth. During my years of umpiring college baseball, I came upon Gordie Gillespie, the very successful coach at St. Francis University in Joliet. Gillespie is inducted into the Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame in baseball, basketbal and football, having built the very successful sports programs at Joliet Catholic High School. He is also in the college Hall of Fame.
I asking Gordie if he would bring his coaching staff to conduct a Saturday baseball clinic for the kids of our area. For three years, Gordie and his staff spent a June Saturday here working on the fundamentals of how to play baseball for our kids. His staff included two coaches who had played professionally, one a catcher with the Chicago White Sox and one a pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals.
I dropped out of the Optimist Club because I was traveling throughout the state with my work and just a few years ago resumed membership in the organization. I again asked for the club to co-op with the Princeton Park District a baseball-softball clinic day for the girls as well as boys. In the past few years, interest in softball has increased tremendously. Both organizations agreed to co-op the program, and again, I called on St. Francis University for the instructors. We have had success with these clinics in assisting the young players to improve their personal play.
I have a passion for these clinics because I watch the kids going through the drills and see their enthusiasm and interest in learning the proper fundamentals. Everyone of these boys is a “pro” in their eyes, and there is satisfaction in seeing them develop from one year to the next.
I have received letters from mothers thanking the organizations and me for sponsoring these learning events. It’s all worthwhile when you get letters from parents.
Last year while standing on the sidelines watching the drills, a grandfather of one of the participants came up to me and said, “Everyone of the coaches in the Princeton Baseball-Softball program should be required to attend this clinic, and they would come away with so much to personally teach the kids on their teams.”
Well, that’s what we’re about! We’re offering youth from first grade up through high school to attend this one-day clinic on June 13 at Zearing Park. I understand some high school players think they are too old to participate. That’s not true. Each age group is grouped together for instruction. If they want to improve their personal games, high school players can learn a lot.
The venerable old manager of the New York Yankees, Casey Stengel, said many times that there is not a day that goes by that he didn’t learn something new in baseball. Here’s your chance: June 13, starting at 9 a.m. until noon, Zearing Park. Register at the Bureau County Metro Center. Cost is $10. You get a T-Shirt. Bring your glove.
