Eastern Ontario Fastball Blog

A blog dedicated to news about the Greater Ottawa Fastball League and other happenings in the world of fastball / fastpitch softball in eastern Ontario and western Quebec, with occasional stories featuring Mrs Fitzroy Fastball, Fitzroy Fastball Junior and the Caveman. If you have info to send on, send me an email at fastball[at]fitzroyharbour.com. Follow @fitzroyfastball on Twitter.

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Friday, April 06, 2012

OASA Springboard Clinic - article

As mentioned on the blog, there will be an OASA Springboard Clinic in Brockville on April 28. This article appeared in the Brockville Recorder-Times.

Top Ontario fastball coaches coming to city
By RON SMITH , SPORTS EDITOR
Updated 6 days ago
Eastern Ontario used to be a hotbed for fastball for all ages.

Softball Ontario is hoping it can be again.

The Ontario Amateur Softball Association will be holding a coaches' and players' clinic in Brockville on Saturday, April 28 at TISS.

While the OASA holds one clinic east of Toronto and one west of Toronto each spring, this will be the first time it's ever been held in Brockville and the first time it's been held east of Napanee.

The six-hour clinic -for two age groups of players -will have a number of the top fastball coaches in the province.

"This will really help the kids. They will find the three hours go flying by and they will go away with more knowledge," said Paddy Nolan, the treasurer for OASA. "The coaches can come and watch and learn what to do in practices."

Nolan, who lives in Warkworth now but grew up in the Newboro-Westport area, knows how popular fastball used to be in this area.

Thirty years ago, Eastern Ontario used to be strong in fastball. Twenty years ago, teams and leagues began to disappear.

Now, there are very few men's or women's leagues in the area. There is still minor softball in a number of communities, although there hasn't been girls softball in Brockville for about 10 years.

There are young players from this area who are trying out with Team Ontario.

"We want to make sure we can bring it back to life in some areas," said Nolan. "That's what we're trying to do."

There is a morning session fron 9 a.m. to noon for boys and girls, ages seven to 12. The afternoon session will run from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. for players ages 13 to 18.

There is no registration cost for coaches but there is a $10 fee for players, who receive a t-shirt on the day of the clinic.

There will be sessions for pitching, hitting, catching, fielding and throwing, along with age-appropriate drills for players.

"We want to introduce new skills to them and have fun at the same time," said Nolan of what the clinic hopes to accomplish with the players. "They can pick up some extra knowledge."

Local coaches will benefit by learning new drills and techniques with a question-and-answer period to help them get specific information.

There will also be a Softball Ontario umpire present to explain new rules and answer any questions on current rules and situations.

To register, players and coaches are asked to go to the website at www.oasa.ca.

- - -

Top Fastball coaches at local clinic

* George Ryder, the Team Canada junior national team assistant coach

* Dave Hoffman, the Team Ontario under-21 head coach

* Scott Searle, the head coach of the University of Ottawa

* Scott Morrow, coach of the Napanee Express

* Brent Mills, a player for the Napanee Express Canadian junior men's team.

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