The Tribune

AFTER being delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, the 34th version of the Mario Ford Baseball Camp is currently underway at Windsor Park.

Despite the inclement weather on Saturday, the camp staged its second week since resuming after Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, the Competent Authority, recently reopened the parks.

Although they engage in just one hour sessions from 10-11 am, Ford said participants can come out and adhere to the strict COVID-19 guidelines, including the sanitising of their hands, the use of their personal water and gloves and social distance. “I think a lot of parents are just sceptical of sending their kids out,” said Ford of the low turn out of participants. “I think now that they know we’re back, we expect the numbers to slowly increase. “It’s not easy, but I had some requests from some of the parents who wanted their kids to find something else to do. So we are trying to take advantage of the time allocated to us with the park being open until 12. We try to finish before that time.”

However, Ford feels that the country should embrace the coronavirus and move on because everybody will have to live with the pandemic.

“We just need to get the kids out, once they wear their masks,” he stated.

“We don’t know who has it, so we just have to be careful wherever we go and just sanitise and social distance.”

One of the parents, Raven Cooper, the mother of Richard Bain III, said her son loves baseball and enjoys watching his father Richard Bain Jr play the game, along with softball.

“He always wanted to participate and his dad was also a member of the Mario Ford Camp, so it was natural for him to come here,” said Cooper, of her five-year-old son, who just started kindergarten at St Francis/Joseph Catholic School.

It’s the intention that Bain III would go on and play in Freedom Farm and eventually follow his father’s footsteps into the night league.

Most players, who have played in Freedom Farm or the Junior Baseball League of Nassau, have gotten their start at the Mario Ford Baseball Camp. That is one of the reasons why Ford said he’s delighted to continue the programme.

The camp will continue every Saturday until November 28.